Topic

Suffering

4 verses from the Bhagavad Gita on suffering. Explore teachings across 4 chapters.

All Verses

Ye hi samsparsha-ja bhoga duhkha-yonaya eva te, adyantavantah kaunteya na teshu ramate budhah

Enjoyments born of sense contact are sources of suffering; they have a beginning and an end, O son of Kunti. The wise person does not delight in them. Pleasures rooted in sensory contact are inherently transient and therefore ultimately unsatisfying.

  • Sense-born pleasures are inherently linked to suffering
  • All sensory pleasures have a beginning and an end
  • The wise seek joy that is independent of external stimuli
sukham tv idanim tri-vidham srinu me bharatarsabha abhyasad ramate yatra duhkhantam ca nigacchati

Now hear from me the three kinds of happiness, O best of the Bharatas — the happiness in which one rejoices through practice and in which one reaches the end of sorrow. Even happiness must be examined through the lens of the gunas.

  • Happiness itself is threefold according to the gunas
  • Genuine happiness leads to the cessation of suffering, not just momentary pleasure
  • Spiritual practice reveals the higher kinds of happiness unavailable to the unexamined life