Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 17, Verse 8
आयुःसत्त्वबलारोग्यसुखप्रीतिविवर्धनाः।रस्याः स्निग्धाः स्थिरा हृद्या आहाराः सात्त्विकप्रियाः।।
āyuḥ-sattva-balārogya-sukha-prīti-vivardhanāḥ
rasyāḥ snigdhāḥ sthirā hṛdyā āhārāḥ sāttvika-priyāḥ
also searched as "ayuh-sattva-balarogya-sukha-priti-vivardhanah"
Translation
Foods that promote longevity, intellectual alertness, strength, health, pleasure, and happiness, and those that are sweet, oily, substantial, and agreeable, are dear to sattvic men.
Vāṇi's rendering
The clear love foods that build life, vigour, strength, health, ease, and delight — juicy, nourishing, substantial, kind to the heart.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| आयुःāyuḥ | length of life |
| सत्त्वsattva | clarity, inner strength of mind |
| बलbala | strength (joined by sandhi to the next word) |
| आरोग्यārogya | freedom from illness, health |
| सुखsukha | ease, comfort |
| प्रीतिprīti | gladness, delight |
| विवर्धनाःvivardhanāḥ | increasing, causing to grow — said of the foods |
| रस्याःrasyāḥ | juicy, full of sap and flavour |
| स्निग्धाःsnigdhāḥ | smooth and oily, nourishing |
| स्थिराःsthirā(ḥ) | substantial, staying with the body |
| हृद्याःhṛdyā(ḥ) | pleasing to the heart |
| आहाराःāhārāḥ | foods |
| सात्त्विकsāttvika | of the clear, settled temperament |
| प्रियाःpriyāḥ | dear, naturally loved |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 17 Verse 8 mean?
It describes the food a settled person is drawn to: food that lengthens life, steadies the mind, builds strength and health, and leaves ease and gladness behind it. Juicy, nourishing, substantial, pleasing. Krishna is not issuing a rule. He is naming an appetite that has quietened, and letting you check yours against it.
What is the meaning of ayuh sattva balarogya sukha priti vivardhanah?
Six things the food increases — āyuḥ, life; sattva, clarity; bala, strength; ārogya, health; sukha, ease; prīti, delight. One long compound, because they rise together. Nothing nourishes the body while dulling the mind. What genuinely feeds you shows up in all six at once, or it is feeding something else.
Does this verse mean sattvic eating has to be plain or bland?
No. The words are rasyāḥ and snigdhāḥ — juicy, smooth with oil — and hṛdyāḥ, kind to the heart. Krishna gives sattvic food flavour and substance on purpose. Harsh, scorching food belongs to the next verse, and punishing yourself at the table is not clarity. It is only another kind of appetite.
How do I know which kind of food I actually prefer?
Watch the hour after eating, not the moment of eating. Sattvic food leaves you steady and light enough to sit still. Rajasic food leaves you restless and looking for the next thing. Tamasic food leaves you heavy and vague. Your body has been filing this report daily. Start reading it.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Notice that Krishna does not tell Arjuna what to eat. He tells him what a clear person already wants. Sattva is not a diet imposed from outside; it is a taste that has changed. Juicy, nourishing, substantial, kind to the heart — nothing thin or punishing here, no gravel of self-denial. The severe eater who suffers his food is elsewhere in this chapter, and it is not this verse. What you reach for at the end of a long day reports on the state you are in. Read your own plate before you read yourself.