Gita 06.28 – To get the best happiness, connect with God, not sense objects

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yuñjann evaṁ sadātmānaṁ
yogī vigata-kalmaṣaḥ
sukhena brahma-saṁsparśam
atyantaṁ sukham aśnute (Bg 6.28)

Word-for-word:
yuñjan — engaging in yoga practice; evam — thus; sadā — always; ātmānam — the self; yogī — one who is in touch with the Supreme Self; vigata — freed from; kalmaṣaḥ — all material contamination; sukhena — in transcendental happiness; brahma-saṁsparśam — being in constant touch with the Supreme; atyantam — the highest; sukham — happiness; aśnute — attains.

Translation:
Thus the self-controlled yogī, constantly engaged in yoga practice, becomes free from all material contamination and achieves the highest stage of perfect happiness in transcendental loving service to the Lord.

Explanation:
Here, Kṛṣṇa progressively describes higher and higher stages of yogic perfection.
yuñjann evaṁ sadātmānam: This phrase has appeared earlier in 6.15a—yuñjann evaṁ sadātmānam (by steady practice). However, the remaining three lines are different there, where it is stated yogī niyata-mānasaḥ (the yogī controls the mind).
Here it is said:
yogī vigata-kalmaṣaḥ: The yogī becomes freed from all contaminations that cause agitation. In its natural state, consciousness is calm and composed. But when it becomes contaminated, it turns agitated. To the extent that we can keep our consciousness pure, or purify it when contaminated, to that extent we will be able to experience higher happiness.
This is explained in the next part:
sukhena brahma-saṁsparśam : one easily achieves contact with Brahman, the higher spiritual reality
atyantaṁ sukham aśnute: and enjoys supreme transcendental happiness.

The contrast here is between the conditioned stage, where the soul seeks saṁsparśa-jā bhogā (Bg 5.22)—the happiness that arises from sense gratification—and the liberated stage, where it experiences brahma-saṁsparśam.

The word “sparśa” can refer to touch, as it commonly does in Indian vernacular languages, or more generally to contact. Touch is one kind of contact; smell, taste, and other sensory experiences are also forms of contact. Therefore, it is said: sukhena brahma-saṁsparśam atyantaṁ sukham aśnute—one easily attains contact with Brahman and enjoys supreme transcendental happiness.

All of us in this world are seeking happiness, and the direction of our quest is shaped by our conception of happiness. For a child, this conception largely revolves around play. At that stage, the sexual organs are not yet developed. Although certain bodily organs differ between male and female children, these organs have not started functioning sexually; they primarily serve excretory purposes. Similarly, the sexual sense—the awareness of oneself as male or female and of others as members of the opposite sex who could be objects of sexual interest—is also undeveloped in childhood.

Hence, at that stage, the quest for happiness is largely shaped by the child’s conception of play. For instance, if the child grows up in a culture where children play cricket, the child will naturally engage in cricket. If the culture involves children going out to fish, the child will join in fishing. Similarly, if the child is raised in a family of hunters or among people who are harsh and brutal, then beating or killing animals becomes a familiar sight, and the child may even take pleasure in such activities.

The point is that our conceptions—often shaped by our culture, upbringing, and surroundings—determine the direction of our quest for happiness. The same child who once found joy in playing may, as they grow, develop new conceptions. The child may begin to think, “My happiness lies in coming first in my class, in being congratulated by my teacher and parents, in being felicitated at an award ceremony, in hearing my name announced.”

If that child is a girl, then upon reaching puberty, her conception of happiness may shift again. She may begin to derive pleasure from the attention she receives—how many heads turn, how many jaws drop, and how many people are drawn to her when she enters a room.

While we could multiply examples endlessly, the essential point is that our conceptions of pleasure, life, purpose, and enjoyment determine the direction of our search for happiness. For most people, throughout most of their lives, these conceptions are centered largely on saṁsparśa—the contact between the senses and sense objects.

With such a conception of pleasure (saṁsparśa-jā bhogā), people become so captivated by the idea that sensory contact leads to happiness that even when experience proves otherwise, they continue to cling to it. Undoubtedly, there is some pleasure when the senses engage with their objects, but that pleasure is fleeting. As Prahlāda Mahārāja says in the Bhāgavatam, madhu lavai—it is like honey (madhu), but only in a small fraction (lavai). It certainly does not endure as the movies, novels, or our own fantasies portray. In reality, it often ends in anticlimax.

Yet, despite the disappointment and letdown, a person continues to chase the same pleasure simply because they do not know anything better. Only through spiritual growth—gained by wisdom, realization, and purification—does one begin to recognize that there is a higher happiness and start seeking it.

The purer we are, the higher the happiness we seek. For example, though it may be distasteful to analyze, there are people who are deeply perverted and derive pleasure from causing pain to others—this is called sadism. Sadists beat, whip, or torment others, and seeing their victims cry, tremble, or writhe in pain gives them a perverse sense of enjoyment. Mṛgāri was such a person—he derived sadistic pleasure by half-killing animals and watching them squirm in agony. There can also be sexual sadism, where the primary pleasure comes not from the sexual act itself but from dominating another person and inflicting pain. This kind of sadistic pleasure is of a very low level—tamasic, rooted in the mode of ignorance.

If the impurities are not so deep, sexual pleasure arises, which is largely romantic and primarily in the mode of passion. Here, two partners fancy themselves in love and seek enjoyment from that connection.

When a person comes to goodness, the focus shifts to love of ideas. This could manifest in art, music, science, business, or even politics—attachment to a particular school of thought. The person becomes devoted to an idea, willing to live or die for it.

While the idea itself may not be spiritual, the individual is drawn to it, finding fulfillment in writing about it, discussing it, sharing it, or implementing it. If the idea embodies values such as freedom or equality, it is sattvic, and the person’s quest for happiness is guided accordingly.

Beyond this stage is transcendence, where the person realizes that what they are ultimately seeking is eternal love. The love of this world is temporary and cannot bring lasting satisfaction. True fulfillment comes only through undying love, which is found in a relationship with God.

As a result, the seeker engages in brahma-jijñāsā, the inquiry into Brahman, and gradually transcends even that to understand Brahman on the highest platform—as Bhagavān. Falling in love with Bhagavān, experiencing bhagavat-prema or Kṛṣṇa-prema, brings about the highest level of brahma-saṁsparśa.

Contact with Brahman can occur through different conceptions: as brahmajyoti, as Paramātmā, or as Bhagavān. Each represents a stage in the spiritual realization, culminating in loving relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

In the flow of this chapter, Kṛṣṇa will explain in 6.47 that the highest yogīs are those who meditate on Him: yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā—they keep Me constantly in their thoughts within themselves.

Kṛṣṇa, in this verse (Bg 6.28), explains that the progression of yoga is meant to lead us to higher happiness. If we are impure, we cannot relish such elevated joy. To the extent we purify ourselves, we can experience progressively higher forms of happiness.

As our consciousness becomes increasingly spiritualized, we are able to enjoy ever-greater spiritual happiness. When there is contact with Brahman in pure consciousness—sukhena brahma-saṁsparśam—the yogi experiences atyantaṁ sukham aśnute, eternal or supreme happiness. Kṛṣṇa, being the reservoir of unlimited bliss, enables this. Contact with Him through love opens the heart of the devotee, allowing the flood of divine love to inundate the heart, elevating it to ecstasy. This love also empowers the devotee to manifest Kṛṣṇa through their surroundings and to help others experience similar joy.

In this way, Kṛṣṇa describes yogic perfection and indicates to Arjuna that the ultimate goal of yoga is to attain atyantaṁ sukham—supreme happiness—through determined and disciplined practice of yoga.

Thank you.