Bhagavad Gita Chapter 17 Verse 8 भगवद् गीता अध्याय 17 श्लोक 8 आयुःसत्त्वबलारोग्यसुखप्रीतिविवर्धनाः। रस्याः स्निग्धाः स्थिरा हृद्या आहाराः सात्त्विकप्रियाः।।17.8।। हिंदी अनुवाद - स्वामी तेजोमयानंद ।।17.8।। आयु? सत्त्व (शुद्धि)? बल? आरोग्य? सुख और प्रीति को प्रवृद्ध करने वाले एवं रसयुक्त? स्निग्ध ( घी आदि की चिकनाई से युक्त) स्थिर तथा मन को प्रसन्न करने वाले आहार अर्थात् भोज्य पदार्थ सात्त्विक पुरुषों को प्रिय होते हैं।। Kumara Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary To those who are situated in sattva guna the mode of goodness, foods that are of the nature of sattva or goodness such as milk, fruits, grains and vegetables are very dear. Such foods promote long life, invigorating the body and elevating the mind in its function of intelligence. As was confirmed earlier in chapter XIV verse XVII: From the quality of sattva guna knowledge arises. Sattva guna facilitates spiritual knowledge and likewise food that is sattva also facilitates spiritual intelligence as well as good health, strength, happiness and relish. The word sukla meaning happiness refers to the pleasure experienced while ingesting the food and afterwards when it is digesting and assimilating within the body. The word priti means satisfaction that is derived from the intake of pure foods inspiring congenial interest in spiritual activities. The word rasayam means succulent, delectable. Snigdhah means oleaginous, unctuous. Sthirah means nourishing, sustaining. Hrydha means agreeable, pleasing. These are the qualities of sattva foods which are very much appreciated by those in sattva guna. Foods that are acidic, bitter, salty, sour, spicy, pungent, dry, hard or burning are the foods that those in raja guna are very much attracted to. The word tiksna refers to food of no value because they are either to cold or to hot. Raksa are foods which are to dry and hard. Vidhahinah are those foods that cause a burning sensation in the body. These foods produce pain, distress, sickness and misery and decreases longevity of life and increase desires for more and more rajas or passion. The foods liked by those in tama guna the mode of ignorance are yata-yaman meaning stale, foods that are old from the previous day, foods cooked more than a yama which is literally three hours before. Gata-rasam means those foods which have lost their original flavour and have become tasteless. Puti means putrid, possessing a foul smell. Paryusitam means decomposed, unrecognisable. Ucchistam means eating the remains of others food after they have eaten. This does not apply to honouring the remnants of mahaprasadam or sanctified food first offered to Lord Krishna and then eaten by the spiritual preceptors who mercifully leaves some for their devotees which is then glorified by them as maha mahaprasadam. Amedhyam means unsanctified foods due to not having been consecrated by first offering it to the Supreme Lord and thus impure. Partaking of foods in tama guna such as meat, fish, fowl, eggs, wine, alcohol, etc. breeds dark nescience and great ignorance. So in conclusion those fortunate jivas or embodied beings with spiritual insight should absolve themselves from the intake of foods in raja guna and tama guna and resort exclusively to foods in sattva guna.