सर्वेषामनुकूलवेदनीयं सुखम् । प्रतिकूलवेदनीयं दु:खम् ।
sarveṣām anukūla-vedanīyaṁ sukham | pratikūla-vedanīyaṁ duḥkham |
(Tarka-saṅgraha: 55–56)
“That which is perceptible as favorable by all is [called] happiness (sukham). That which is perceptible as unfavorable [by all] is [called] suffering (duḥkha).”
Commentary
Some editions of Tarka-saṅgraha contain a variant reading:
sarveṣām anukūlatayā vedanīyaṁ sukham | pratikūlatayā vedanīyaṁ duḥkham |
“That which is perceptible as being favorable by all is [called] happiness (sukha). That which is perceptible as being unfavorable [by all] is [called] suffering (duḥkha).”
Govardhana Miśra comments as follows on these definitions:
itarecchānadhīnecchā-viṣayatvam iti niṣkarṣaḥ |
(Excerpt from the Nyāya-bodhinī-ṭīkā)
“The objectivity [i.e., that which exists as the object] of the desire that is non-dependent on another desire [i.e., the fundamental, ultimate, and unconditional object of desire for the sake of attaining which all other objects of desire are means] is the extraction [of the essential meaning of the aforementioned definition of happiness (sukha)].”
Śrī Śrīdhara Svāmīpāda and Śrī Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa use corresponding definitions of happiness and suffering in their commentaries on Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā:
sukham anukūla-saṁvedanīyam | duḥkhaṁ ca tad-viparītam |
(Subodhinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 10.4)
“Happiness (sukha) is that which is perceptible as favorable, and suffering (duḥkha) is the opposite of that.”
sukhaṁ ānukūlyena vedyam | duḥkhaṁ tu prātikūlyena vedyam |
(Gītā-bhūṣaṇa-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 10.4)
“Happiness (sukha) is that which is perceptible with favorability [i.e., as being favorable], whereas suffering (duḥkha) is that which is perceptible with unfavorability [i.e., as being unfavorable].”