1 Gita Sloka Every Day - Chapter 18 - Moksha Sanyasa Yoga - Sloka 37

The entire content of this mail is from Shri V N Gopala Desikan's  Srimad Bhagavad Gita, published by Vishishtadvaita Research Centre, Chennai and The Bhagavad Gita by Swami Chidbhavananda published by Ramakrishna Mission

The grades in the firmness of mind are being described now:

The Three Gunas Give Impetus to Karma - 18-40

1 Gita Sloka  Every Day - Chapter 18 - Moksha Sanyasa Yoga - Sloka 37

The 44th Azhagiyasingar (Mukkur) of Sri Ahobila Mutt 

Yat tat agre visham iva pariname amruta upamam I

Tat sukham sattvikam proktam atma buddhi prasadajam II sloka 37

यत् तत् अग्रे विषं इव परिणामे अमृत उपमां I 

तत् सुखं सात्त्विकं प्रोक्तं आत्म बुद्धि प्रसदजं II श्लोक 37

That which is like poison at first, but like nectar at the end; that happiness is said to be sattvika, born of the translucence of intellect due to self realisation. 

To a beginner swimming seems as dreadful as death, but the same becomes delightful once he picks it up. Strangers and strange places create favourable impression at first sight; but with continued acquaintance they become congenial. The jivatman has been used the life in the body and the senses in his previous births. His switching on now to the control of senses, detachment from the body, and meditation on the glory of the atman - all these practises seem to him strange and painful. But as he perseveres in them he comes to know that his plenitude is in the self and not in the mundane. He was a fish out of water when he lived in the senses. He is now a fish which has got back into water due to his taking to spiritual life. 

He who desires to live a spiritual life may easily come to know of its merits by observing the life of a yogi and that of another given to sensuality. How the one makes and the other mars life stand revealed. Though hard to practise, self control is the path to happiness. 

Man gets purified in body and mind as he progresses in the spiritual path. Purification of the mind is more important than that of the body, A purified mind is like a translucent glass, revealing the fundamental truth about life. Happiness or bliss is actually in the slef and not in the non-self. The realisation of this truth sends the sadhaka into raptures. His bliss becomes abiding. The sadhana that started as a hard task culminates in supreme happiness. And this is possible by the sattvika man alone

It is the sense control that like the waxing moon fosters steady happiness. The man who masters his senses is slave to none in any region. He blooms in eternal bliss