सुखं त्विदानीं त्रिविधं श्रृणु मे भरतर्षभ।अभ्यासाद्रमते यत्र दुःखान्तं च निगच्छति ॥

Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.

• 18.29Hear thou the threefold division of intellect and firmness, according to the Gunas, as I declare them fully and distinctly, O Arjuna.
• 18.30The intellect which knows the path of work and renunciation, what should be done and what should not be done, fear and fearlessness, bondage and liberation—that intellect is Sattvic (pure), O Arjuna.
• 18.31That by which one wrongly understands dharma and adharma, and also what ought to be done and what ought not to be done—that intellect, O Arjuna, is rajasic (passionate).
• 18.32That intellect, O Arjuna, which is enveloped in darkness and sees Adharma as Dharma and all things perverted, is Tamasic (dark).
• 18.33The unwavering firmness, through which Yoga restrains the functions of the mind, life-force, and senses—that firmness, O Arjuna, is Sattvic (pure).
• 18.34But that, O Arjuna, by which one holds fast to Dharma (duty), enjoyment of pleasures, and earning of wealth, on account of attachment and desire for reward—that firmness, O Arjuna, is Rajasic (passionate).
• 18.35That firmness, O Arjuna, by which a stupid man does not abandon sleep, fear, grief, despair, and conceit, is Tamasic.

• 18.36And now, O Arjuna, hear from Me of the threefold pleasure, in which one rejoices through practice and surely comes to the end of pain.

• 18.37That which is like poison at first but in the end like nectar—that happiness is declared to be sattvic, born of the purity of one's own mind due to self-realization.
• 18.38That happiness which arises from the contact of the senses with the objects, which is initially like nectar but eventually like poison, is said to be Rajasic.
• 18.39That happiness which at first, as well as in the end, deludes the self, and which arises from sleep, indolence, and heedlessness—that is declared to be Tamasic.
• 18.40There is no being on earth or in heaven among the gods that is liberated from the three qualities born of Nature.

sukham

happiness

tu

but

idānīm

now

tri-vidham

of three kinds

śhṛiṇu

hear

me

from me

bharata-ṛiṣhabha

Arjun, the best of the Bharatas

abhyāsāt

by practice

ramate

rejoices

yatra

in which

duḥkha-antam

end of all suffering

cha

and

nigachchhati

reaches yat—which

tat

that

agre

at first

viṣham iva

like poison

pariṇāme

in the end

amṛita-upamam

like nectar

sāttvikam

in the mode of goodness

proktam

is said to be

ātma-buddhi

situated in self-knowledge

prasāda-jam

generated by the pure intellect