Devanagari
आहारस्त्वपि सर्वस्य त्रिविधो भवति प्रिय: ।
यज्ञस्तपस्तथा दानं तेषां भेदमिमं शृणु ॥ ७ ॥
Verse text
āhāras tv api sarvasya
tri-vidho bhavati priyaḥ
yajṣas tapas tathā dānaṁ
teṣāṁ bhedam imaṁ śṛṇu
Synonyms
āhāraḥ
—
eating
;
tu
—
certainly
;
api
—
also
;
sarvasya
—
of everyone
;
tri-vidhaḥ
—
of three kinds
;
bhavati
—
there is
;
priyaḥ
—
dear
;
yajṣaḥ
—
sacrifice
;
tapaḥ
—
austerity
;
tathā
—
also
;
dānam
—
charity
;
teṣām
—
of them
;
bhedam
—
the differences
;
imam
—
this
;
śṛṇu
—
hear.
Translation
Even the food each person prefers is of three kinds, according to the three modes of material nature. The same is true of sacrifices, austerities and charity. Now hear of the distinctions between them.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
7. The food that people enjoy, their sacrifice, austerity and charity have three divisions also. Please hear about these.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
7. The food the people enjoy, their sacrifice, austerity and charity have three divisions also. Please hear about these.
Purport
In terms of different situations in the modes of material nature, there are differences in the manner of eating and performing sacrifices, austerities and charities. They are not all conducted on the same level. Those who can understand analytically what kind of performances are in what modes of material nature are actually wise; those who consider all kinds of sacrifice or food or charity to be the same cannot discriminate, and they are foolish. There are missionary workers who advocate that one can do whatever he likes and attain perfection. But these foolish guides are not acting according to the direction of the scripture. They are manufacturing ways and misleading the people in general.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
I have described in the previous chapter those who give up scriptural rules and do things according to their desire, and in this chapter I have described those who, according the asuras’ scriptures, worship Yakṣas, Rākṣasas, Pretas and other beings (verses 4); and I have also described those who perform austerities and other acts (which appear religious) with no scripture at all (verses 5 and 6). These all end up as asuric beings. Please consider and understand, in like manner, as much as possible, the categories of deva and asura assumed by foods and other things to be described according to division of the three guṇas. Thirteen verses describe these items.
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
As there are three different faiths, so people have three types of food and other items. As with faith of the person, edibles like rice, dear to all people (sarvasya priyaḥ), are of three types. Similarly, sacrifices and other items are of three types. The three types of four of these items are described: food, sacrifice, austerity and charity.
Surrender Unto Me
When reading this we begin naturally to place ourselves and others, in some positions in the material world according to the modes of material nature and try to understand what our tendencies are.
There are people almost purely in the mode of goodness, there are also people who are completly demoniac, but most people fall in between with some particular, unique combination of the modes of material nature. By understanding one's situation in the modes, one can learn to prescribe for himself a gradual process.
In this Chapter we see the middle picture and yet we want to elevate ourselves, obviously because the mixtures of passion and ignorance tend to push us towards lust, anger and gree which are the gates to hell. We want to avoid this, we want to elevate ourselves. Here we place ourselves naturally in one or another of the combinations of the different modes through understanding our tendencies by understanding food, sacrifices, austerities and charity in the modes.
And then,in the concluding section (F) Krsna explains the purpose of His explanation of the divisions of faith.
[B. FOODS IN THE MODES (17. 8‑10)
Foods in goodness increase one's life, health and happiness. Such foods are juicy, fatty and wholesome. Foods in passion are too bitter, too sour, salty, hot and pungent. They bring distress, misery, and disease. Foods in ignorance are cooked more than three hours before being eaten, are decomposed, putrid, and consist of remnants and untouchable things.]