Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 17, Verse 10

यातयामं गतरसं पूति पर्युषितं च यत् । उच्छिष्टमपि चामेध्यं भोजनं तामसप्रियम्

yātayāmaṃ gatarasaṃ pūti paryuṣitaṃ ca yat | ucchiṣṭamapi cāmedhyaṃ bhojanaṃ tāmasapriyam

Translation

The food which is stale, tasteless, putrid and rotten, refuse and impure, is dear to the Tāmasic.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

yātayāmam

gone, a watch (of ours), whose, it

gatarasam

gone, taste, whose, it

pūti

putrid

paryuṣitam

stale

ca

and

yat

which

ucchiṣṭam

left

api

also

ca

and

amedhyam

unclean

bhojanam

food

tāmasapriyam

of the tāmasic, dear

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

Stale: half-cooked. 'Yātayāma' (lit. cooked three hours ago) meaning 'powerless' is thus explained, to avoid tautology; for the next word 'gata-rasa' (tasteless) means the same, i.e., 'powerless.' Rotten: the cooked food over which one night has passed. Refuse: left after a meal. Impure: unfit for offering.