यज्ञशिष्टाशिनः सन्तो मुच्यन्ते सर्वकिल्बिषैः । भुञ्जते ते त्वघं पापा ये पचन्त्यात्मकारणात् ॥
yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santo mucyante sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ | bhuñjate te tv aghaṃ pāpā ye pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt ||
Give first, then receive — freed from all impurity. Cook only for yourself — you eat your own sin.
Word by word (3)
- yajña-śiṣṭa-āśinaḥ
- — those who eat the remnants of yajna · Yajña-śiṣṭa = the remainder after yajna/sacrifice. Āśina = those who eat. In ritual context, prasāda (blessed food) is what remains after the offering. In the Gita's broader sense: those who first offer (give) and then receive what remains — who act in yajna-mode, giving first.
- sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ mucyante
- — they are freed from all sins · Kilbiṣa = sin, fault, impurity. Mucyante from muc (to be freed, to be released). Freedom from all impurity comes to those who eat the remnants of yajna — i.e., who live in the spirit of giving-first.
- ātma-kāraṇāt pacanti pāpāḥ
- — the sinful cook only for themselves · Ātma-kāraṇāt = for self-purpose alone (ātman = self here as ego-self; kāraṇa = reason, cause). Pacanti = they cook (action symbol). Pāpā = sinful ones. Those who cook (work, create, produce) purely for their own consumption without offering are accumulating sin — not through malice but through ego-confinement.
Good people who eat the remnants of sacrifice — who give first and receive what remains — are freed from all sins. But those who cook only for themselves are eating their own sin.
A modern analogy
The leader who ensures their team is fed, paid, and recognized before taking their own share operates in yajña-śiṣṭa mode. The executive who maximizes personal compensation while the organization struggles cooks only for themselves — and pays the cost in integrity, trust, and ultimately in their own wellbeing.
Take with you
- Give-first is the operating principle: offer your work, service, or gift — then receive what comes back.
- Self-only consumption (ātma-kāraṇāt) is not just immoral — it creates psychological impurity, isolation, and eventual deterioration.
- The 'remnants of sacrifice' can be understood as: what is naturally yours after you have given what belongs to others.
- Freed from 'all sins' — the yajna orientation cleanses the entire karmic ledger, not just specific faults.
V13 is the social ethics of the yajna-principle crystallized into a single verse. The contrast is between the santo (the good/righteous) who eat yajña-śiṣṭa (the remainder after offering) and the pāpā (the sinful) who cook for ātma-kāraṇāt (self alone). Shankaracharya's commentary emphasizes that 'cooking for oneself alone' is not about the physical act but the intentional structure of one's activity: is it oriented toward the whole or toward the self? This verse has deep ecological resonance: the organism that serves the ecosystem first (as trees give oxygen, bees pollinate before feeding) participates in the healthy order. The one that only takes without giving disrupts it and ultimately destroys its own environment.
Modern parallels
Research on prosocial behavior (Batson, Penner) shows that people who habitually help others before helping themselves show lower cortisol levels, stronger immune function, and greater life satisfaction. The yajña-śiṣṭa pattern produces measurable wellbeing. The inverse — pure self-focus — is associated with higher rates of depression, anxiety, and social isolation (the bhuñjate te tv aghaṃ in psychological terms).
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
The good ones who eat the remnants of sacrifice are freed from all sins. But sinful are those who cook food for their own sake only — they eat sin. [1]
The good, who eat the remnants of sacrifice, are freed from all sins. But those sinful ones who cook for themselves, they eat sin. [4]
Those who eat the remnants of the sacrifice are released from all sin. But those who cook for themselves alone eat their own pollution. [6]
Pious men do eat The food that's left of sacrifice, and so Are quit of sin. But they that spread a feast All for themselves eat sin and drink of sin. [7]
Good men eating the leavings of sacrifice are freed from all sins. But those sinful ones eat sin, who cook for their own sake. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Enjoy the gifts of existence without giving back — the Gita calls that theft. Participate, don't just consume.
Those who eat yajna's remnants reach eternal Brahman. Without offering, not even this world is theirs.
Seers with sins destroyed, doubts cut, self-controlled, devoted to all beings' welfare — they attain brahma-nirvāṇa.
Arjuna asks: what does the truly wise person look like? How do they speak, sit, and move?
Lift the self by the Self; let not the self drown itself — you alone are your own friend and your own foe.
When the completely controlled mind rests serenely in the Self alone, free from all desire-pull — that is called yoga.