โศลก 5.225.15.25.35.45.55.65.75.85.95.105.115.125.135.145.155.165.175.185.195.205.215.225.235.245.255.265.275.285.29

The enjoyments that are born of contacts are only generators of pain, for they have a beginning and an end, O Arjuna; the wise man does not rejoice in them.

The pleasures born of contact are sources of sorrow, for they have a beginning and an end, son of Kunti. The wise do not delight in them.

Krishna explains the limits of sense pleasure. Enjoyments that arise from contact with objects are duḥkhayoni, wombs of sorrow. They begin and they end, and their ending brings loss, craving or disappointment. The wise person, budha, therefore does not find delight in them. The verse is not a call to grim self-denial but a clear-eyed look at the nature of pleasure that depends on outer things. It echoes the second chapter's teaching that sensations come and go and must be borne with patience.