Verse 3.13

यज्ञशिष्टाशिनः सन्तो मुच्यन्ते सर्वकिल्बिषैः ।

भुञ्जते ते त्वघं पापा ये पचन्त्यात्मकारणात् ॥

3.13

Transliteration

yajñaśiṣṭāśinaḥ santo mucyante sarvakilbiṣaiḥ |

bhuñjate te tvaghaṃ pāpā ye pacantyātmakāraṇāt ||

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · @indic-transliteration/sanscript 1.3.3

Translation

The righteous who eat the remnants of the sacrifice are freed from all sins; but those sinful ones who cook food (only) for their own sake verily eat sin.

From the owner's sheet · +1 more

Word by word

eaters of sacrificial remnants
the good
are freed
from all sins

eat
they
but
sin
the sinful
who
cook
for their own sake

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08

Explanation

Krishna draws a sharp contrast using the image of food. In Vedic custom, food was first offered and then the remainder eaten as a sacred share. Those who live this way, receiving only after giving, are freed from wrongdoing. Those who cook only for themselves, he says, eat sin itself. The image makes the teaching concrete: the same act of eating can bind or free, depending on its spirit. Many households in India still offer food before eating, and the verse is often recalled in that setting.