Bhagavad Gita 2.66
नास्ति बुद्धिरयुक्तस्य न चायुक्तस्य भावना । न चाभावयतः शान्तिरशान्तस्य कुतः सुखम् ॥
nāsti buddhir ayuktasya na cāyuktasya bhāvanā | na cābhāvayataḥ śāntir aśāntasya kutaḥ sukham ||
Translation
There is no understanding for the undisciplined; no meditation for the undisciplined; without meditation, no peace; without peace, where is happiness?
Reflection
Which layer of the stack under your happiness have you been trying to bypass?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Two
A chain in the opposite direction from 2.62-63. Without discipline, no understanding. Without understanding, no contemplation. Without contemplation, no peace. Without peace, where is happiness? Each step impossible without the one before. The verse names the cascading dependency that ordinary life papers over by chasing happiness directly. Happiness, Krishna says, sits on top of a stack the chaser usually skips. The verse is a small map: if happiness is the destination, peace is its precondition, and peace has its own preconditions, all the way back to discipline. Skip a layer, and the layer above does not load.