Bhagavad Gita 17.9: meaning and translation
Chapter 17: Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga. Krishna says
Krishna describes the food that people of rajas like: bitter, sour, salty, very hot, pungent, dry and burning.
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Bhagavad Gita 17.9
कट्वम्ललवणात्युष्णतीक्ष्णरूक्षविदाहिनः ।आहारा राजसस्येष्टा दुःखशोकामयप्रदाः ॥
KatvamlalavanatyushnatikshnarukshavidahinahAhara rajasasyeshta duhkhashokamayapradah
kaṭvamlalavaṇātyuṣṇatīkṣṇarūkṣavidāhinaḥ |āhārā rājasasyeṣṭā duḥkhaśokāmayapradāḥ ||
Our explanation Krishna describes the food that people of rajas like: bitter, sour, salty, very hot, pungent, dry and burning. In his words, such food brings pain, grief and illness. Shankara, in Sastri's translation, takes 'very' (ati) with every word in the list: very bitter, very hot and so on. Readings of these verses differ between schools and teachers, and the wording is the text's, not the view of this library.
हिंदी अर्थ कृष्ण बताते हैं कि राजस लोगों को कैसा आहार प्रिय होता है: कड़वा, खट्टा, नमकीन, बहुत गरम, तीखा, रूखा और जलन देने वाला। उनके शब्दों में, ऐसा आहार दुःख, शोक और रोग देता है। शंकराचार्य “अति” (बहुत) को सूची के हर शब्द के साथ जोड़ते हैं: बहुत कड़वा, बहुत गरम, आदि। इन श्लोकों को अलग-अलग परंपराएँ और आचार्य अलग ढंग से पढ़ते हैं, और ये शब्द पाठ के हैं, इस पुस्तकालय का मत नहीं।
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- कट्वम्ललवणात्युष्णतीक्ष्णरूक्षविदाहिनः kaṭvamlalavaṇātyuṣṇatīkṣṇarūkṣavidāhinaḥ · bitter, sour, salty, very hot, pungent, dry, burning (compound (masculine), nominative plural) Dictionary: kaṭu, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 244, col. 1 “pungent, acrid, sharp”; amla, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 84, col. 1 “sour, acid”; lavaṇa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 898, col. 3 “saline, salt, briny, brinish”; aty-uṣṇa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 13, col. 2 “very hot”; tīkṣṇa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 448, col. 3 “sharp, hot, pungent, fiery, acid”; 1. rūkṣa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 885, col. 3 “rough, dry, arid, dreary”; vi-dāhin, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 965, col. 3 “burning, scorching, hot”
- आहाराः āhārāḥ · foods (noun (masculine), nominative plural) Dictionary: ā-hāra, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 163, col. 1 “taking food; food”
- राजसस्य rājasasya · to the person of rajas (adjective (masculine), genitive singular) Dictionary: rājasa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 875, col. 2 “belonging or relating to the quality rajas”
- इष्टाः iṣṭāḥ · liked (past participle (masculine), nominative plural) Dictionary: 1. iṣṭa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 169, col. 2 “wished, desired; liked, beloved; agreeable; cherished”
- दुःखशोकामयप्रदाः duḥkhaśokāmayapradāḥ · bringing pain, grief and illness (compound (masculine), nominative plural) Dictionary: 1. duḥkha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 483, col. 2 “uneasiness, pain, sorrow, trouble, difficulty”; śoka, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1091, col. 1 “sorrow, affliction, anguish, pain, trouble, grief”; āmaya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 146, col. 2 “sickness, disease”; pra-da, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 679, col. 3 “giving, yielding, offering, granting, bestowing, causing, effecting”
Old translations
Kashinath Trimbak Telang, 1882. Public domain. Page 118.
The kinds of food which are bitter, acid, saltish, too hot, sharp, rough, and burning, and which cause pain, grief, and disease, are desired by the passionate.
Compare 3 translations
Kashinath Trimbak Telang, 1882. Public domain. Page 118.
The kinds of food which are bitter, acid, saltish, too hot, sharp, rough, and burning, and which cause pain, grief, and disease, are desired by the passionate.
You are reading this one
Annie Besant, 1895. Public domain. Page 148.
The Râjasic desire bitter, sour, saline, over-hot, pungent, dry and burning foods, producing pain, grief and sickness.
You are reading this one
Swami Swarupananda, 1909 (first printed 1907). Public domain. Page 310.
The foods that are bitter, sour, saline excessively hot, pungent, dry and burning, are liked by the Râjasic, and are productive of pain, grief and disease.
You are reading this one
Cite this verse
The translation: K. T. Telang, The Bhagavadgîtâ (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882), p. 118. Bhagavad Gita 17.9.
The translation: Annie Besant, The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1895), p. 148. Bhagavad Gita 17.9.
The translation: Swami Swarupananda, Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita (Mayavati: Prabuddha Bharata Press, 1909; first printed in Prabuddha Bharata, 1907–1909), p. 310. Bhagavad Gita 17.9.
Our explanation: “Bhagavad Gita 17.9: meaning and translation.” Pujadeep. Updated October 25, 2026. https://pujadeep.com/bhagavad-gita/17/9/
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Bhagavad Gita 17.9
कट्वम्ललवणात्युष्णतीक्ष्णरूक्षविदाहिनः ।
आहारा राजसस्येष्टा दुःखशोकामयप्रदाः ॥
“The kinds of food which are bitter, acid, saltish, too hot, sharp, rough, and burning, and which cause pain, grief, and disease, are desired by the passionate.”
(K. T. Telang, The Bhagavadgîtâ (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882), p. 118, public domain)
“The Râjasic desire bitter, sour, saline, over-hot, pungent, dry and burning foods, producing pain, grief and sickness.”
(Annie Besant, The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1895), p. 148, public domain)
“The foods that are bitter, sour, saline excessively hot, pungent, dry and burning, are liked by the Râjasic, and are productive of pain, grief and disease.”
(Swami Swarupananda, Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita (Mayavati: Prabuddha Bharata Press, 1909; first printed in Prabuddha Bharata, 1907–1909), p. 310, public domain)
Sanskrit: G. A. Natesan & Co., Madras, 1922.
https://pujadeep.com/bhagavad-gita/17/9/ Nothing is sent from this site. Your own app sends it, to the chat you choose. The picture quotes the translation you chose on this page, with its name and year.
Sanskrit text: The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation, 1922. Meanings: written for Pujadeep and checked against the cited edition. Source and changes
Questions families ask
Who speaks Bhagavad Gita 17.9?
Krishna speaks this verse, in chapter 17 (Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga).
Where does the Sanskrit text come from?
Sanskrit text: The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation, 1922. Meanings: written for Pujadeep and checked against the cited edition. See the source
Is the meaning on this page a translation?
Explanation written for this site from the sources listed here, and checked against the cited edition. It is not a translation and not the only way to read the text. Free to quote with credit.
Source and licence
- Sanskrit text
- The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation (Annie Besant, G. A. Natesan & Co., Madras, 1922). Public domain. The Sanskrit on these pages was read from this printing’s page images.
- Translation
- The Bhagavadgîtâ with the Sanatsugâtîya and the Anugîtâ, translated by Kâshinâth Trimbak Telang (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, ed. F. Max Müller) (Kashinath Trimbak Telang, F. Max Müller, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1882). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
- Translation
- The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song, translated by Annie Besant (Annie Besant, Theosophical Publishing Society, London, 1895). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
- Translation
- Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita, with Sanskrit Text; Paraphrase with Word-by-word Literal Translation; English Rendering and Comments, Index, &c., by the Swami Swarupananda (Himalayan Series, No. XX) (Swami Swarupananda, The Editors and Publishers, Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Prabuddha Bharata Press, Mayavati, Almora, Himalayas, 1909). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
- Common wording
- In this text, 32 words follow today's common wording, checked against sanskritdocuments.org; Sanskrit Wikisource; Gita Press, Gorakhpur; GRETIL, Göttingen and Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.
- Our explanation
- Explanation written for this site from the sources listed here, and checked against the cited edition. It is not a translation and not the only way to read the text. Free to quote with credit.
- Checked
- Checked against the cited edition, October 15, 2026.
- Updated
- October 25, 2026