आयुःसत्त्वबलारोग्यसुखप्रीतिविवर्धनाः । रस्याः स्निग्धाः स्थिरा हृद्या आहाराः सात्त्विकप्रियाः ॥
āyuḥ-sattva-balārogya-sukha-prīti-vivardhanāḥ | rasyāḥ snigdhāḥ sthirā hṛdyā āhārāḥ sāttvika-priyāḥ ||
Sāttvic food enhances life, sattva, strength, health, joy, delight — savoury, oleaginous, substantial, heart-pleasing.
Word by word (3)
- āyuḥ-sattva-bala-ārogya-sukha-prīti-vivardhanāḥ
- — foods that increase (vivardhanāḥ) life-span (āyus), inner luminosity (sattva), strength (bala), health (ārogya), happiness (sukha), and delight/affection (prīti) — the six life-enhancing qualities
- rasyāḥ snigdhāḥ sthirāḥ hṛdyāḥ
- — savoury/full of rasa (rasyāḥ), oleaginous/unctuous (snigdhāḥ), substantial/nourishing (sthirāḥ), agreeable/heart-pleasing (hṛdyāḥ) — the four sensory qualities of sāttvic food
- āhārāḥ sāttvika-priyāḥ
- — these foods (āhārāḥ) are dear (priyāḥ) to the sāttvic — the preference test: a sāttvic person naturally loves nourishing, balanced, life-enhancing food
Foods that increase lifespan, inner clarity, strength, health, joy, and delight — that are savoury, oleaginous, nourishing, and pleasant — are dear to those of sāttvic nature.
A modern analogy
Sāttvic food is like good sleep — it restores and enhances without drama. You don't feel a rush, you feel fundamentally stronger, clearer, more stable. Compare to spicy/stimulating food that gives a temporary high and then depletes — that is rājasic. Sāttvic food builds up where it meets you.
V8-10 give the three food-types. V8 is notable for listing SIX positive outcomes (āyus, sattva, bala, ārogya, sukha, prīti) before describing the sensory qualities — the benefit precedes the description. This is the Gita's nutritional psychology: food is medicine and consciousness-shaper. The description of sāttvic food exactly parallels the positive health ideal of Āyurveda (tridoṣa balance, snigdha, sthira qualities).
The inclusion of 'sattva-vivardhanāḥ' (sattva-increasing) in the food benefits is philosophically significant: food directly affects consciousness-quality. This is the material basis for the Upaniṣadic teaching (Chāndogya 6.5.1): the pure part of food becomes prāṇa, the middle part becomes flesh, the gross part becomes waste — and ALSO that food purifies (āhāra-śuddhi) the sattva-component of mind. Sāttvic food is thus a spiritual practice.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
The foods which increase life, energy, strength, health, joy and cheerfulness, which are savoury and oleaginous, substantial and agreeable, are dear to the Sattvic. [1]
The foods which augment vitality, energy, strength, health, cheerfulness, and appetite, which are savoury and oleaginous, substantial and agreeable, are liked by the Sattvika. [4]
Foods which are agreeable to all, oleaginous, nutritive, and strengthening, and which are liked by the sattvic, augment life, intellect, strength, health, pleasantness, and cheerfulness. [9]
Those kinds of food that increase life's period, energy, strength, health, well-being and joy, which are savory, oleaginous, nutritive, and agreeable, are liked by God. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Lift the self by the Self; let not the self drown itself — you alone are your own friend and your own foe.
Tāmasic kartā: undisciplined, vulgar, obstinate, deceitful, malicious, lazy, desponding, procrastinating.
Once that joy is found, no other gain seems greater — established in it, even the heaviest sorrow cannot shake you.
Supreme bliss comes naturally to the yogi whose mind is fully at peace, passion quieted, stainless — Brahman-become.
Non-injury, equanimity, contentment, austerity, charity, fame and infamy — these varied states arise from Me alone.
Equal to enemy and friend, honor and dishonor, cold and heat, pleasure and pain — free from all attachment!