Offering purifies enjoyment.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
यज्ञशिष्टाशिनः सन्तो मुच्यन्ते सर्वकिल्बिषैः |भुञ्जते ते त्वघं पापा ये पचन्त्यात्मकारणात् ||३-१३||
yajñaśiṣṭāśinaḥ santo mucyante sarvakilbiṣaiḥ . bhuñjate te tvaghaṃ pāpā ye pacantyātmakāraṇāt ||3-13||
Use this verse before meals or major consumption choices.
Meaning
The noble who partake of what remains after yajna are freed from impurities, but those who cook only for themselves consume sin.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
Life becomes pure when consumption follows offering.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
This verse uses food as a spiritual metaphor. Eating after offering means living with gratitude, restraint, and sacred awareness. Cooking only for oneself means living for selfish consumption. People today can apply this beyond food: earn after serving, enjoy after contributing, rest after responsibility, and consume after gratitude. This is how ordinary life becomes yajna.
Read the traditional commentary
Krishna contrasts two ways of living. The santas, the good, partake of yajna-shishta — what remains after the offering has been made — and so are cleansed of all sins. Those who cook and consume solely for themselves, offering nothing first, are said to 'eat sin.'
The image of the meal is everyday yet profound. Before we take, we offer; before we enjoy, we give. Food consecrated by this attitude of sharing nourishes both body and soul, while self-centred consumption feeds only the ego and accumulates karmic weight.
The teaching is not about literal food alone but about the spirit in which we receive everything. A life lived as offering purifies; a life of pure self-indulgence corrupts. Sanctify your enjoyment by first giving, and even ordinary acts become a means of liberation.
In daily life
Convert consumption into gratitude-based living.
Before eating, pausing for gratitude can turn food into sacred nourishment.
Try this today
Before your next meal, pause and offer thanks silently.
I enjoy what is offered with gratitude.Reflect
Do I consume after gratitude or from entitlement?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘मुच्यन्ते सर्वकिल्बिषैः’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on selflessness, in other chapters
- Verse 17.20Give freely to those who cannot repay you, thoughtfully and at the right time — true generosity seeks nothing in return.
- Verse 4.21Action done with a disciplined mind, free of expectation and possessiveness, leaves no stain on the soul.
- Verse 5.7When you act with a pure heart and see the one Self in all beings, your work no longer binds you.
- Verse 6.27When passion is stilled and the heart is pure, supreme bliss comes to you of its own accord.
Swipe left for 3.14 · Life is sustained by interconnected cycles.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 3.13
Who says Bhagavad Gita 3.13, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 3.13, in Chapter 3, Karma Yoga (Karma Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 3.13 mean?
The noble who partake of what remains after yajna are freed from impurities, but those who cook only for themselves consume sin. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 3.13 for daily life?
Convert consumption into gratitude-based living. Before eating, pausing for gratitude can turn food into sacred nourishment.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 3.13 mean?
यज्ञशिष्ट अशिनः — those who eat the remnants of sacrifice; सन्तः — the righteous; मुच्यन्ते सर्वकिल्बिषैः — are freed from all sins; भुञ्जते ते तु अघम् — but they eat sin; पापाः — the sinful ones.
Where does verse 3.13 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 13 of 43 in Chapter 3, Karma Yoga. The next verse is 3.14.