Impure food increases tamas.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
यातयामं गतरसं पूति पर्युषितं च यत् |उच्छिष्टमपि चामेध्यं भोजनं तामसप्रियम् ||१७-१०||
yātayāmaṃ gatarasaṃ pūti paryuṣitaṃ ca yat . ucchiṣṭamapi cāmedhyaṃ bhojanaṃ tāmasapriyam ||17-10||
Use this verse to reduce tamasic food patterns.
Meaning
Food that is stale, tasteless, putrid, decomposed, leftover, or impure is dear to tamasic people.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
Tamasic food is stale, impure, and dulling.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
Krishna links food quality to mental quality. Food that is lifeless, old, impure, or careless can increase heaviness, dullness, and lack of clarity.
Read the traditional commentary
Tamasic food is that which has lost all vitality — yata-yamam (stale and overcooked), gata-rasam (drained of taste and nourishment), puti (foul), paryushitam (left over from the day before), and even ucchishtam and amedhyam, that which is refuse and impure. It carries no life force and dulls whoever consumes it. This corresponds to the nature of tamas: inertia, decay, and unconsciousness.
The symbolism reaches beyond the kitchen. A tamasic disposition gravitates toward what is stagnant, neglected, and lifeless — not only in food but in habits, environments, and company. What we routinely accept into ourselves shapes our energy and awareness.
To eat the dead and decayed is, in a sense, to feed our own dullness. Krishna invites us to notice whether the things we habitually consume awaken us or sink us further into heaviness.
In daily life
Choose freshness and care in food habits.
A person relying on stale leftovers and late-night junk may feel dull and unfocused the next day.
Try this today
Replace one dulling food habit with a fresher option.
I nourish my body with freshness and care.Reflect
Which food habit increases dullness in me?
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Quick check
What does ‘पर्युषितम्’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on inertia, in other chapters
- Verse 14.8The most dangerous bondage is the one that dulls you to its own presence — heedlessness, laziness, and stupor.
- Verse 18.28Laziness, despondency, and endless procrastination are the marks of a doer sunk in inertia and darkness.
- Verse 5.9Even your smallest reflexes are nature at work, not the true Self — hold that awareness and remain free amid all activity.
- Verse 10.22Even the mind that perceives and the awareness that lights up all experience are manifestations of the Divine.
Swipe left for 17.11 · Pure offering is duty without reward-seeking.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 17.10
Who says Bhagavad Gita 17.10, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 17.10, in Chapter 17, Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga (Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 17.10 mean?
Food that is stale, tasteless, putrid, decomposed, leftover, or impure is dear to tamasic people. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 17.10 for daily life?
Choose freshness and care in food habits. A person relying on stale leftovers and late-night junk may feel dull and unfocused the next day.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 17.10 mean?
यातयामम् — stale, kept too long; गतरसम् — tasteless, having lost its essence; पूति — putrid, foul-smelling; पर्युषितम् — leftover from the day before; उच्छिष्टम् अपि — even refuse, half-eaten.
Where does verse 17.10 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 10 of 28 in Chapter 17, Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga. The next verse is 17.11.