Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 5: Renunciation in Action

Bhagavad Gita 5.22

ye hi saṃsparśajā bhogā duḥkhayonaya eva te | ādyantavantaḥ kaunteya na teṣu ramate budhaḥ ||

The pleasures that come from contact are only sources of sorrow. They have a beginning and an end, Arjuna, and the wise do not delight in them.

Modern context

This is a hard saying: pleasures that come from contact are sources of sorrow. The reason is given at once. They begin and they end. Whatever starts must stop, and the ending hurts in proportion to the clinging. There is also the wanting that comes before a pleasure and the dullness that follows it. The wise still eat good food and listen to music. They do not rest their happiness on such things, because they know what kind of things they are.