Bhagavad-gītā 17.9
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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kaṭu
—
bitter
The first of the three sharp tastes Kṛṣṇa lists. Note the bare adjective with no qualifier: each taste in moderation is dharmic, but the bare unqualified form implies excess. The vice of rajas is rarely the wrong ingredient — it is the excess of an acceptable one.
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ati - uṣṇa
—
very hot
Ati (excess) + uṣṇa (hot). The ati is the operative word in the entire list: heat is not the problem; *excess* of heat is. The same prefix could be implied across every adjective in the verse. Rajas is the mode of more.
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tīkṣṇa
—
pungent
From √tij — to be sharp, to pierce. The food that pierces the tongue with its sharpness. Note the metaphorical reach: tīkṣṇa is used elsewhere for harsh speech and aggressive temperament. The food and the mood share the word.
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rūkṣa
—
dry
The opposite of snigdha in the previous verse. Sattvic food is wet with rasa; rajasic food is parched. Dryness here is more than texture — it is the absence of affectionate moisture.
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āmaya
—
disease
From ā + √mī — that which afflicts thoroughly. The final word of the verse's triple verdict on rajasic food (duḥkha, śoka, āmaya): not poetic but clinical. Duḥkha is immediate distress, śoka lingering grief, and āmaya the settled disease that completes the descent. Three durations of one wrong choice.
In this list the adjective “extremely” should be added to each quality. Very bitter food (kaṭu) means such food as nīma. Very sour, very salty and very hot foods are well known. Very sharp foods (tīkṣṇa) are turmeric root and other items, or pepper. Very drying foods (rūkṣa) are hing and kodrava. Burning foods (vidāhinaḥ) are those that cause internal heat, such as burned chick peas. These cause suffering (duḥkha), lamentation (śoka), and disease (āmayam). The word “suffering” here refers to suffering when eating, causing pain to the tongue, throat or other organ. “Lamentation” means afterward, in the future, those foods cause despair. Āmaya means disease.
This verse describes foods in the mode of passion. To the seven adjectives, the word “very” should be added. Foods which are very bitter (kaṭu) include nīma, but not pepper and such. Pepper is an example of pungent food. Very sour, very salty and very hot foods are in the mode of passion. Very pungent foods (tīkṣṇa), such as pepper and very dry foods (ṛūkṣa), such as kaṅgu and very burning foods (vidāhinaḥ), such as rājikā, are in the mode of passion. These are attractive to the person in the mode of passion (rājasasya iṣṭāḥ), but disgusting to the persons in the mode of goodness. They give immediate suffering (duḥkha), such as drying of the tongue or throat. They give despair (śoka), and later, disease, disorder of the blood (āmayam).
Foods in the mode of passion – Too bitter, too sour, salty, hot, pungent, dry and burning
17.9 कट्वम्ललवणात्युष्णतीक्ष्णरूक्षविदाहिनः those that are bitter? sour saline? excessively hot? pungent? dry and burning? आहाराः foods? राजसस्य of the Rajasic? इष्टाः are liked? दुःखशोकामयप्रदाः are productive of pain? grief and disease.Commentary Excessively This alification should be taken to apply to each of the seven alities -- thus? excessively saline? and so on.Food of a passionate nature produces restlessness in the mind? evil thoughts? excitement? craving now for one thing and then for another? pain? trouble and disease. The Rajasic man always plans to prepare various kinds of preparations to satisfy his palate. He takes salt? chillies? mustard? cloves? condiments? pungent pickles? etc.? in excess. Tears flow from his eyes and water dribbles from his nose and yet he will not leave the hot and pungent articles. The palate remains unsatisfied until the stomach is completely filled with pungent things? till the tongue is burnt with chillies. Ladysfinger? Puri? Kachori? pungent condiments? meat? fish? eggs? sweets? potato? fried bread? curd? brinjal? carrots? blackgram? onions? garlic? lemon? Masur? tea? coffee? betels? tobacco are Rajasic artciles of food.
- Notice over-stimulating foods and reduce them.
- Track agitation in mood post-meal.
- Reduce caffeine, excessive spice, etc.
- What rajasic foods most agitate me?
- What reduction would I notice in mood?
Rajasic food is like a torch held too close to the face — bright, hot, exciting, and slightly burning. It thrills going in and disturbs going through; the body grows quicker but the mind grows louder. What stimulates is rarely what nourishes.
My note
Source: vedabase.io