Mūla — the verse
Gita Press numberingTranslation
Swami Gambhīrānanda · follows Śaṅkara-bhāṣyaFood, which is dear to all, is of three kinds; likewise, sacrifices, austerity, and charity are also of three kinds. Listen to this classification of them.
हिन्दी अनुवाद — Swami Tejomayānanda
(अपनीअपनी प्रकृति के अनुसार) सब का प्रिय भोजन भी तीन प्रकार का होता है? उसी प्रकार यज्ञ? तप और दान भी तीन प्रकार के होते हैं? उनके भेद को तुम मुझसे सुनो।।
Pronunciation — Vaamshii
from VaamshiiWord by word
padārthaThemes
from The Thematic Companion to the Bhagavad GītāMeaning — Questions & Solutions
from Q&A with KnA“As is a man’s faith, so verily is he (śraddhā-mayo’yaṃ puruṣaḥ): what his faith is, that he is” (17.3) — one of the Gītā’s most quoted lines, and a whole psychology in seven words. K then applies the threefold analysis: the object of worship (17.4) — the sattvic worship the devas (the higher, ordering powers); the rajasic, the yakṣas and rakṣas (powers of wealth and force); the tamasic, ghosts and spirits (the dark and confused). Food (17.8–10) — the sattvic prefer foods that promote life, strength, health, cheer — savoury, wholesome, nourishing; the rajasic crave the bitter, sour, salty, burning-hot, harsh, which breed pain and disease; the tamasic take the stale, tasteless, putrid, left-over and impure. Sacrifice (17.11–13) — the sattvic offer as duty, without desire for fruit, according to the ordinance; the rajasic offer for show and with an eye to reward; the tamasic offer without faith, without gifts, without sacred word or rule. Note how the analysis reaches even to the plate: the Gītā takes seriously that what we eat shapes the mind that worships (recall “what we eat, we become”, 3.12). Spirituality here is not walled off from diet, motive and manner; the guṇa pervades the whole.