Chapter 18: Moksha-sannyasa-yoga:: Verse 38
विषयेन्द्रियसंयोगाद्यत्तदग्रेऽमृतोपमम् ।
परिणामे विषमिव तत्सुखं राजसं स्मृतम् ॥
viṣayendriya-saṃyogād-yat-tad-agre’mṛtopamam
pariṇāme viṣam-iva tat-sukhaṃ rājasaṃ smṛtam – 18.38
The happiness born of contact between the senses and the objects, nectar-like to begin with, but like poison in the end, is held to be rājasa.
Chapter 18: Moksha-sannyasa-yoga: - Verse 38
Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha
Rājasa sukha is just the reverse of sāttvika, in that it is solely external and gross, which senses generate by contact with the objects around. In sāttvika happiness, the whole process is inner, in the mind-intelligence level, linked to the imperishable Self. The difference is significant.
Sāttvika sukha follows an inner refinemental process, guided by and resulting in spiritual enlightenment. In rājasa sukha that factor is totally lacking. Rājasa individual looks only to the outer world objects, seeking sense interactions with them. He considers these to be the summum bonum of life. Every thought or argument he indulges in, is to this end.
He gets worn out with such unbridled sensory indulgences. He becomes irritable, dejected, trapped in the sense-object network. That is why it is described as nectarine first and poisonous thereafter. What a grave plight rajas drives one to!
