Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 18, Verse 39
यदग्रे चानुबन्धे च सुखं मोहनमात्मनः।निद्रालस्यप्रमादोत्थं तत्तामसमुदाहृतम्।।
yad agre cānubandhe ca sukhaṁ mohanam ātmanaḥ
nidrālasya-pramādotthaṁ tat tāmasam udāhṛtam
also searched as "yad agre chanubandhe cha sukham mohanam atmanah"
Translation
That pleasure which, at the beginning and end, deludes the self, through sleep, sloth, and error, is declared to be tamasic.
Vāṇi's rendering
And the pleasure that fogs the self from first to last — rising out of sleep, sloth, and neglect — is dark.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| यत्yat | that which |
| अग्रेagre | at the beginning |
| चca | and |
| अनुबन्धेanubandhe | in what follows, in the aftermath |
| चca | and |
| सुखम्sukham | pleasure, happiness |
| मोहनम्mohanam | clouding, bewildering |
| आत्मनःātmanaḥ | of the self |
| निद्रालस्यप्रमादोत्थम्nidrālasya-pramādotthaṁ | risen out of sleep, sloth, and neglect (pramāda + uttham joined by sandhi) |
| तत्tat | that |
| तामसम्tāmasam | dark, of the nature of tamas |
| उदाहृतम्udāhṛtam | is declared, is called |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Verse 39 mean?
Krishna names the third and lowest kind of pleasure: the one that clouds the self at the start and still clouds it at the finish. It has no bright hour at all. Its parents are sleep, sloth and neglect — dullness mistaken for peace. He calls it tāmasa, dark, and moves on.
What is the meaning of yad agre chanubandhe cha sukham mohanamatmanah?
It means the pleasure that bewilders you in the beginning and in the sequel alike. Where the passionate pleasure at least opens sweetly, this one never does. It rises from drowsiness, from inertia, from the small daily neglect of what you know you owe — and it leaves you where it found you, only heavier.
How is tamasic pleasure different from rajasic pleasure in the Gita?
Rājasika pleasure is nectar first and poison after — a real high with a real bill. Tāmasika pleasure has no high. It fogs the self from first to last. One burns you; the other simply keeps you asleep. That is why Krishna lists it last: nothing in it ever moves.
Is rest itself considered tamasic in the Bhagavad Gita?
No. Krishna is not condemning sleep or ease; the body needs both, and elsewhere he warns against those who eat nothing and sleep nothing. What he names here is dullness pretending to be rest. Real rest restores you to your work. Tāmasika comfort dissolves the work, and eventually the wish for it.
Themes in this verse
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Commentary
Three pleasures have been named, and this is the one that never wakes up. The rājasika pleasure at least tastes of nectar at the start; it lies only later. This one fogs you at both ends — nothing bright at the beginning, nothing clear at the close. Krishna gives its sources plainly: sleep, sloth, neglect. Not sins. Habits. The evening that dissolves into scrolling nothing, the task deferred so long it stops being a task — these feel like rest and are not rest. Rest restores. This dulls. Ask of any comfort you reach for tonight: does it return you sharper, or does it return you at all?