Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 18, Verse 37
यत्तदग्रे विषमिव परिणामेऽमृतोपमम्।तत्सुखं सात्त्विकं प्रोक्तमात्मबुद्धिप्रसादजम्।।
yat tad agre viṣam iva pariṇāme 'mṛtopamam tat sukhaṁ sāttvikaṁ proktam ātma-buddhi-prasāda-jam
also searched as "yat tad agre vishamiva parinamemritopamam"
Translation
That which, at first, is like a poison but becomes like an elixir in the end, born from the serene state of mind focused on the Self—such pleasure is said to be Sattvika.
Vāṇi's rendering
What tastes like poison at first and nectar in the end, born of a mind at peace with itself — clear.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| यत्yat | that which |
| तत्tad | that |
| अग्रेagre | at the beginning, at first taste |
| विषम्viṣam | poison |
| इवiva | like, as if |
| परिणामेpariṇāme | in the ripening, at the end |
| अमृत-उपमम्amṛta-upamam | comparable to nectar (joined to the previous word by sandhi as pariṇāme 'mṛtopamam) |
| तत्tat | that |
| सुखम्sukham | happiness, pleasure |
| सात्त्विकम्sāttvikam | clear, luminous in nature |
| प्रोक्तम्proktam | is called, is declared |
| आत्म-बुद्धि-प्रसाद-जम्ātma-buddhi-prasāda-jam | born from the settled clarity of a mind resting in the Self |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Verse 37 mean?
It names the happiness Krishna calls clear: bitter on the tongue at the start, sweet as amṛta when it ripens. Its mark is not pleasantness but origin — it rises from a mind grown quiet with itself. Discipline, honesty, patience all taste like this. You know it by the ending, never by the first sip.
What does yat tad agre vishamiva mean in the Gita?
It means "that which is like poison at first." Krishna is warning Arjuna not to judge a happiness by its opening moment. The things that steady a life almost always resist you early. What arrives easy tends to leave hard; what arrives hard tends to stay and feed you.
How can happiness be sattvic if it feels like poison?
Because sāttvika does not mean comfortable, it means clear. The bitterness belongs to the resistance in you, not to the thing itself. As that resistance thins, the same act begins to nourish. Krishna measures happiness by what it leaves behind in you, not by how it greets you.
What is atma-buddhi-prasada-jam in this verse?
It is the source Krishna points to — happiness born of prasāda, the settling of a mind that has stopped arguing with itself. Not a feeling you chase, but what remains when the chasing quietens. This is why such joy lasts: nothing outside you is holding it up.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Poison first, nectar after. Krishna is describing the taste of everything worth having — the cold morning, the hard conversation, the practice you resent on day one and cannot live without by year three. Arjuna wants a happiness that feels good immediately; Krishna tells him such a thing exists and it is the other kind. What makes this one clear is not the difficulty but its source: a mind that has settled with itself. The bitterness is only the first mouthful. Notice what you have already refused this week because it tasted wrong at the start.