Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan

Let us now go the happiness in mode of ignorance.

Bg 18.39

yad agre cānubandhe ca
sukhaṁ mohanam ātmanaḥ
nidrālasya-pramādotthaṁ
tat tāmasam udāhṛtam

Synonyms: 

yat — that which; agre — in the beginning; ca — also; anubandhe — at the end; ca — also; sukham — happiness; mohanam — illusory; ātmanaḥ — of the self; nidrā — sleep; ālasya — laziness; pramāda — and illusion; uttham— produced of; tat — that; tāmasam — in the mode of ignorance; udāhṛtam — is said to be.

Translation: 

And that happiness which is blind to self-realization, which is delusion from beginning to end and which arises from sleep, laziness and illusion is said to be of the nature of ignorance.

yad agre cānubandhe ca, from the beginning to the end anubandhe refers to the end so from agre, beginning to the end

sukhaṁ mohanam ātmanaḥ, mohanam is used continuously with respect to the mode of ignorance by Krishna. It completely puts the soul in illusion and Krishna gives three specific activities that comprise the pleasure in the mode of ignorance. 

nidrālasya-pramādotthaṁ, nidrā — sleep; ālasya — laziness; pramāda — and illusion; 

Now sleep is a necessary body function. Krishna has earlier talked about Yuka Ahara Viharas Ca, Yukata Cetas Karmasu…in 6.17

And in 6.16 He has talked about 

nāty-aśnatas tu yogo ’sti
na caikāntam anaśnataḥ
na cāti-svapna-śīlasya
jāgrato naiva cārjuna

Synonyms: 

na — never; ati — too much; aśnataḥ — of one who eats; tu — but; yogaḥ — linking with the Supreme; asti — there is; na — nor; ca — also; ekāntam — overly; anaśnataḥ — abstaining from eating; na — nor; ca — also; ati— too much; svapnaśīlasya — of one who sleeps; jāgrataḥ — or one who keeps night watch too much; na — not; eva — ever; ca — and; arjuna — O Arjuna.

Translation: 

There is no possibility of one’s becoming a yogī, O Arjuna, if one eats too much or eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough.

So in above two verse He said that if one sleeps too much or sleeps too little he cannot become a yogi, one the other hand if one is regulate in sleeping and other bodily activities then by practice of yoga one can become free from miseries. So Krishna is saying sleep is an essential bodily function and it has to be regulated. But here Krishna is not talking about Nidra He is talking about Shukha, so when one sleeps for the pleasure of sleeping, actually sleep is a bodily biological function that is required, but when one sleep as an escape way from the problem of life. Sometimes material nature makes us realize that how much we are helpless no solutions are working and we are not even getting the sleep also. 

pramādotthaṁ, pramada is intoxication, illusion, pramada can come in various ways, one of the literal example is drinking, when a person drinks it is agre cānubandhe ca, from beginning to end it is misery, the more and more a person drinks the more and more it becomes bound by the intoxication. 

Another example is Pramada by T.V. which triggers lust, anger and greed within us. In general the activities shown in T.V. are rajasik and tamashik. 

If a short advertisements effects people’s mind so much how the long programs on lust, anger and greed going to affect them?

T.V. makes people dull and lull, means intellectually passive and physically inactive. 

What kind of happiness I pursue in my life that will enable me to either rise or go down in my life, if we chase happiness in ignorance, there may be some happiness but overall our consciousness, our life and our post life destination will go down, if we choose happiness in goodness and then practice to make spiritual advancement then gradually we will get unending happiness.

End of transcription.