Chapter 5, Verse 22
ये हि संस्पर्शजा भोगा दुःखयोनय एव ते | आद्यन्तवन्तः कौन्तेय न तेषु रमते बुधः ||५-२२||
ye hi saṃsparśajā bhogā duḥkhayonaya eva te . ādyantavantaḥ kaunteya na teṣu ramate budhaḥ ||5-22||
Meaning
5.22 The enjoyments that are born of contacts are only generators of pain, for they have a beginning and an end, O Arjuna; the wise man does not rejoice in them.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna explains why the wise turn away from sense-pleasures. The enjoyments born of sense-contact (samsparsha-ja bhogah) are duhkha-yonayah — literally 'wombs of sorrow,' sources from which pain is born. Though they feel pleasant in the moment, they inevitably breed suffering.
The reason is given simply: they are adi-antavantah, possessed of a beginning and an end. Whatever begins must end, and the ending of a pleasure brings the pain of its loss and the ache of renewed craving. To stake one's happiness on what is impermanent is to guarantee future grief. Therefore the budha, the wise person, does not delight in such fleeting joys. This is not life-denial but clear-eyed discernment: recognizing that transient pleasures cannot deliver lasting fulfillment frees one to seek the unchanging joy of the Self described in the previous verse.
💡 Key Takeaway
Pleasures from sense-contact begin and end, and their ending breeds pain — the wise don't stake their joy on what won't last.
Related Verses
प्रलपन्विसृजन्गृह्णन्नुन्मिषन्निमिषन्नपि | इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेषु वर्तन्त इति धारयन् ||५-९||
pralapanvisṛjangṛhṇannunmiṣannimiṣannapi . indriyāṇīndriyārtheṣu vartanta iti dhārayan ||5-9||
5.9 Speaking, letting go, seizing, opening and closing the eyes convinced that the senses move among the sense-objects.
न प्रहृष्येत्प्रियं प्राप्य नोद्विजेत्प्राप्य चाप्रियम् | स्थिरबुद्धिरसम्मूढो ब्रह्मविद् ब्रह्मणि स्थितः ||५-२०||
na prahṛṣyetpriyaṃ prāpya nodvijetprāpya cāpriyam . sthirabuddhirasammūḍho brahmavid brahmaṇi sthitaḥ ||5-20||
5.20 Resting in Brahman, with steady intellect and undeluded, the knower of Brahman neither rejoiceth on obtaining what is pleasant nor grieveth on obtaining what is unpleasant.