Verse 5.22

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 5.22:

ये हि संस्पर्श-जा भोगा दुःख-योनय एव ते आद्य्-अन्तवन्तः कौन्तेय न तेषु रमते बुधः ॥ २२ ॥

ye hi saṃsparśa-jā bhogā duḥkha-yonaya eva te
ādy-antavantaḥ kaunteya na teṣu ramate budhaḥ || 22 ||

ye–which; hi–certainly; saṃsparśa-jāḥ–born of sensual contact with the sense objects; bhogāḥ–all pleasures; duḥkha-yonayaḥ–sources of misery; eva–certainly; te–they; ādi-antavantaḥ–a beginning and an end; kaunteya–O son of Kuntī; na–not; teṣu–in them; ramate–delights; budhaḥ–an enlightened man.

O son of Kuntī, pleasures born of contact with the senses are certainly the cause of misery. Since they have a beginning and an end, an enlightened person does not become attached to them.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

A wise man does not become attached to sense enjoyment. For this reason, this verse beginning with ye hi is spoken.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

The happiness derived from the contact of the senses with sense objects is called saṃsparśa-mokṣa. Such happiness has a beginning and an end, for when the contact is broken, the happiness ceases. For this reason, the wise do not become attached to such sense enjoyment, which is transient and only appears to be pleasant. It is only to maintain the body that such wise persons engage their senses in action, doing so with a mood of detachment.