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← Chapter 17: The Yoga of the Division of Threefold Faith

Verse 17.10

Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit

यातयामं गतरसं पूति पर्युषितं च यत् | उच्छिष्टमपि चामेध्यं भोजनं तामसप्रियम् ||१०||

Transliteration (IAST)

yāta-yāmaṁ gata-rasaṁ pūti paryuṣitaṁ ca yat | ucchiṣṭam api cāmedhyaṁ bhojanaṁ tāmasa-priyam ||10||

Word-by-Word Meanings

yāta-yāmam-stale/cooked long ago
gata-rasam-tasteless/devoid of juice
pūti-putrid/foul-smelling
paryuṣitam-leftover/decomposed
ucchiṣṭam-remnants of others' food
amedhyam-impure/unfit for offering
bhojanaṁ-food
tāmasa-priyam-dear to the tamasic

Translation

Food that is stale, tasteless, putrid, leftover, and impure - such food is dear to those of tamasic nature.

Commentary

Shankaracharya defines yāta-yāmam as food cooked more than three hours before consumption, which has lost its vital energy. Ramanuja explains that tamasic food dulls the mind and promotes lethargy, ignorance, and disease. The classification reflects the Ayurvedic understanding that food directly affects consciousness.

Themes

dharmakarma

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