A core teaching · grounding in mood · easy to enter
“What is offered purifies; what is hoarded for the self corrupts.”
Those who eat the leftovers of sacrifice are freed from all faults. Those who cook only for themselves eat only wrongdoing.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Hover a word to focus on it.
Read literallyeating what remains after sacrifice · the good, the noble · are freed · from all faults · they eat/enjoy · they · but · wrongdoing · the sinful · those who · cook · for their own sake
People who take only what remains after offering their work for the larger order are cleansed. People who act only for themselves end up consuming their own wrongdoing.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Karma Yoga" (The Yoga of Action).
Verse 13 sits in Chapter 3 of the Bhagavad Gita — Karma Yoga, "The Yoga of Action". The chapter has 43 verses in total.
You finish dinner and notice you grabbed the best piece before anyone else. That tiny reflex is the same one that makes larger acts feel hollow.
Did you like this verse?
It shifts action from self-collection to offering, so work becomes clean instead of contaminated by greed.
What this verse means
People who take only what remains after offering their work for the larger order are cleansed. People who act only for themselves end up consuming their own wrongdoing.
Context & commentary
On the battlefield, Arjuna is frozen and Krishna is rebuilding the meaning of action. After explaining sacrifice and mutual support, Krishna says that the noble live on what is left after offering first; self-centered action only deepens impurity.
Why this verse still matters
You finish dinner and notice you grabbed the best piece before anyone else. That tiny reflex is the same one that makes larger acts feel hollow.
“Generosity purifies effort; selfishness poisons it.”
Explore related themes: yajna (32 verses)