Bhagavad Gita · Karma Sannyasa YogaChapter 5, Shloka 22 (5.22)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
ये हि संस्पर्शजा भोगा दुःखयोनय एव ते
आद्यन्तवन्तः कौन्तेय न तेषु रमते बुधः
॥ 5.22 ॥
ye hi saṃsparśajā bhogā duḥkhayonaya eva te
ādyantavantaḥ kaunteya na teṣu ramate budhaḥ
Translation
"O Kaunteya, the pleasures born of contact are sources of sorrow — they have a beginning and an end; the wise do not delight in them."
Interpretation
Shankaracharya — a stern view. Duḥkha-yonaya eva te avidyā-kṛtatvāt — they are sources of sorrow because they are made by avidya; na saṃsāre sukhasya gandha-mātram api asti iti buddhvā — knowing that "in samsara there is not even a whiff of happiness", viṣaya-mṛgatṛṣṇikāyāḥ indriyāṇi nivartayet — one should turn the senses back from the mirage of objects. Ādiḥ viṣayendriya-saṃyogo bhogānām antaś ca tad-viyoga eva — the beginning of pleasure is contact, its end is separation; madhya-kṣaṇa-bhāvitvāt — lasting only the moment in between. And he calls desire śreyo-mārga-pratipakṣī kaṣṭatamo doṣaḥ — the hardest enemy of the path to the good (a lead-in to 5.23).
Acharya Ramanuja — a simpler form. Duḥkhodarkāḥ ādyantavantaḥ alpakāla-vartinaḥ — their outcome is sorrow, they last a short time; na teṣu tad-yāthātmya-vid ramate — one who knows their truth does not delight in them. And at the end of 5.21: prākṛtasya bhogasya sutyajatām āha — now he explains that worldly pleasures can be given up easily.
The difference (of emphasis): Shankara's language of dispassion is intense ("not even a whiff of happiness"); Ramanuja gives a calm argument — pleasures are short-lived, so giving them up is natural.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.