18.37
यत्तदग्रे विषमिव
परिणामेऽमृतोपमम् ।
तत्सुखं सात्त्विकं प्रोक्तम्
आत्मबुद्धिप्रसादजम् ॥
yat tad agre viṣam iva pariṇāme 'mṛtopamam
tat sukhaṃ sāttvikaṃ proktam ātmabuddhiprasādajam
Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) is still speaking, to Arjuna (अर्जुन). This is the happiness the yatra (यत्र) of 18.36 was pointing at.
The verse
That which is like poison at first and like nectar in the result, born of the clarity of the intellect turned to the self: that happiness is declared sāttvika (सात्त्विक).
नेपालीमा
जो सुरुमा विषजस्तो र परिणाममा अमृतजस्तो हुन्छ, आत्मातिर फर्केको बुद्धिको स्पष्टताबाट जन्मेको, त्यो सुख सात्त्विक भनिन्छ।
Where it sits
18.36 promised a happiness that comes from practice and ends suffering, and this verse gives its taste: like poison at first, like nectar in the result, born of a clear intellect. 18.38 reverses the taste, and 18.39 deludes at the start and after.
Split: यत् + तत् + अग्रे + विषम् + इव + परिणामे + अमृत-उपमम् + तत् + सुखम् + सात्त्विकम् + प्रोक्तम् + आत्म-बुद्धि-प्रसाद-जम्
yat + tat + agre + viṣam + iva + pariṇāme + amṛta-upamam + tat + sukham + sāttvikam + proktam + ātma-buddhi-prasāda-jam
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| यत् | yat | nominative singular neuter | which. |
| तत् | tat | nominative singular neuter | that. |
| अग्रे | agre | locative singular of agra (अग्र) | at first. At the beginning. |
| विषम् | viṣam | nominative singular | poison. |
| इव | iva | indeclinable | like. |
| परिणामे | pariṇāme | locative singular | in the result. In the ripening. |
| अमृत-उपमम् | amṛta-upamam | nominative singular neuter | comparable to nectar. Like the deathless. |
| तत् | tat | nominative singular neuter | that. |
| सुखम् | sukham | nominative singular | happiness. |
| सात्त्विकम् | sāttvikam | nominative singular neuter | sāttvika (सात्त्विक). |
| प्रोक्तम् | proktam | nominative singular neuter, past participle | is declared. |
| आत्म-बुद्धि-प्रसाद-जम् | ātma-buddhi-prasāda-jam | nominative singular neuter | born of the clarity of the intellect turned to the self. The suffix --ja (ज) means "born of." |
The phrases
यत् तत् अग्रे विषम् इव yat tad agre viṣam iva is how it tastes at the start. That which, at first, is like poison. यत् तत् अग्रे yat tat agre is yat tad agre (यत्तदग्रे). विषम् इव viṣam iva is viṣam iva (विषमिव).
परिणामे अमृत-उपमम् pariṇāme amṛta-upamam is how it tastes in the result. Like nectar. परिणामे अमृत-उपमम् pariṇāme amṛta-upamam is pariṇāme 'mṛtopamam (परिणामेऽमृतोपमम्).
tat sukham sāttvikam proktam (तत् सुखम् सात्त्विकम् प्रोक्तम्) names it. That happiness is declared sāttvika (सात्त्विक). ātma-buddhi-prasāda-jam (आत्म-बुद्धि-प्रसाद-जम्) says where it is born. The quarter break keeps proktam (प्रोक्तम्) and the compound apart. The source half-line joins them.
Sanskrit in this line
परिणामे अमृत-उपमम् pariṇāme amṛta-upamam is pariṇāme 'mṛtopamam (परिणामेऽमृतोपमम्). ए + अ e + a drops the a (अ) of amṛta (अमृत). The locative pariṇāme (परिणामे) stays. agre (अग्रे) is the other locative, "at first," and the two locatives are the two times. Do not put viṣam (विषम्) in the result and amṛta (अमृत) at the start. That swap is 18.38, and it is a different happiness.
Say it back
Cover the English. Say the taste at the start and the taste in the result. If they are reversed, stay here.