Bhagavad Gita 5.22

ye hi saṁsparśa-jā bhogāḥ

duḥkha-yonaya eva te

ādy-antavantaḥ kaunteya

na teṣu ramate budhaḥ

 

“From the titillation of the senses comes a pleasure,

That is the source of a sorrow beyond measure.

Ending soon after beginning, it doesn’t stay,

The wise seek no joy in its deluding play.”

 

O my Lord, the pursuit of sense pleasure has led me to repeated suffering at so many levels—mental, physical, financial, social, and spiritual.

At the mental level, I end up with a tormenting craving whose goad becomes sharper each time I pander to my senses. My Lord, why do I accept a lifetime of mental torment for a moment of sensual pleasure?

At the physical level, I indulge so much—being driven by the senses toward their objects—that I end up harming my health. How many times, my Lord, have I suffered ill health due to excessive indulgence?

At the financial level, O Lord, how much money have I wasted on pleasures that last mere moments, yet leave consequences that haunt for years?

At the social level, the mad pursuit of pleasure has led me to so much embarrassment and humiliation. How many apologies, my Lord, have I had to make because I blindly chased fleeting pleasures?

At the spiritual level, my Lord, so many opportunities for connecting with you and relishing an imperishable joy have I lost—and I continue to lose —for mere moments of sensory titillation.

Please, O Lord, hold my intelligence strong so that I can see, unsentimentally and unflinchingly, the enormous cost I have already paid—and will continue to pay unless I make a change right now.

Bless me, my Lord, so that from within me, arises a conviction, firm and stern: enough is enough.

***

05.22 An intelligent person does not take part in the sources of misery, which are due to contact with the material senses. O son of Kuntī, such pleasures have a beginning and an end, and so the wise man does not delight in them.