The Etymology of Pleasure and Pain (‘Sukha’ and ‘Duhkha’ as Types of Wheels)

Here’s The Bhagavad Gita‘s Book VI Verse 32, using Winthrop Sargeant’s translation (by far the best available):

He who sees equality in everything
In the image of his own Self, Arjuna,
Whether in pleasure or in pain,
Is thought to be a supreme yogin.

In the original sanskrit:

atmaupamyena sarvatra
samam pasyati yo ‘rjuna
skham va yadi va duhkham*
sa yogi paramo matah

___________________

* It is perhaps amusing to note the etymology of the words “sukha” (pleasure, comfort, bliss) and “duhkha” (misery, unhappiness, pain). The ancient Aryans who brought the Sankrit language to India were a nomadic, horse-and cattle-breeding people who travelled in horse- or ox-drawn vehicles. “Su” and “dus” are prefixes indicating good or bad. The word “kha,” in later Sanskrit meaning “sky,” “ether,” or “space,” was originally the word for “hole,” particularly an axle hole of one of the Aryan’s vehicles. Thus “Sukha” (a BV cpd.) meant, originally, “having a good axle hole,” while “duhkha” meant “having a poor axle hole,” leading to discomfort.

I.e. that pleasure and pain in others is the same as pleasure and pain in himself, since the selves of all beings are equal to his own self, or identical with it.

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