The Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 5 · verse 5.22
The pleasures born of contact with external objects are wombs of suffering. They have a beginning and an end. The wise do not delight in them.
Sanskrit (Devanagari)
ये हि संस्पर्शजा भोगा दुःखयोनय एव ते। आद्यन्तवन्तः कौन्तेय न तेषु रमते बुधः॥
Transliteration
ye hi saṁsparśa-jā bhogā duḥkha-yonaya eva te; ādy-antavantaḥ kaunteya na teṣu ramate budhaḥ
English translation
The pleasures born of contact with external objects are wombs of suffering. They have a beginning and an end. The wise do not delight in them.
Meaning — what the verse is actually saying
Every external pleasure has the same structure: it begins, it peaks, it ends, and what follows is craving for it again. The Gita is not anti-pleasure; it is honest about its mechanism. Pleasure from the outside generates the craving that becomes the next round of suffering.
Modern practice — what to do today because of this
Notice the rhythm of any habitual pleasure (scrolling, snacking, gossiping). The pleasure phase is short; the craving phase that follows is long. Awareness of the mechanism, alone, breaks much of its grip.