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.