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Chapter 17 · Verse 7
🪈 Krishna speaks
Illustration for Chapter 17, Verse 7

आहारस्त्वपि सर्वस्य त्रिविधो भवति प्रियः। यज्ञस्तपस्तथा दानं तेषां भेदमिमं शृणु॥

āhārastvapi sarvasya trividho bhavati priyaḥ | yajñastapastathā dānaṁ teṣāṁ bhedamimaṁ śṛṇu ||

Word by Word 15 words
आहारः
ā towards, in hṛ to take, to carry

food, what is taken in

तु
tu but, indeed

and, indeed

अपि
api also, even

even, also

सर्वस्य
sarva all, everyone asya genitive, of

of everyone, of all people

त्रिविधः
tri three vidha kind, sort

of three kinds

भवति
bhū to be, to become

is, becomes

प्रियः
prī to please, to be dear

dear, liked, preferred

यज्ञः
yaj to worship, to offer

sacrifice, worship, offering

तपः
tap to heat, to glow, to be austere

austerity, discipline

तथा
tathā so, likewise

and likewise, so too

दानम्
dā to give

giving, charity

तेषाम्
tad that, those eṣām genitive plural, of those

of these, their

भेदम्
bhid to split, to divide

difference, distinction

इमम्
idam this

this

शृणु
śru to hear, to listen

listen, hear

says: "Even the food each person loves to eat comes in three kinds, and so do the three good things people do: worship, discipline, and giving. Listen now, and I will show you how each of these three splits into three."

कथा

Three Roads From One Crossing

From the mahabharata

On the eve of the great war, two sages sat by a slow river far from , watching the same sun sink that the armies watched.

The younger one, Vatsa, was troubled. "Master," he said, "I have walked through many camps these past days. I have seen warriors who eat plain cooked rice and sleep early, calm as ponds. I have seen others who feast on fiery, salty meats and pace all night, quick to anger. And I have seen a few who eat whatever is left over and cold, and lie about half-asleep even at midday. Why are people so different, when they all sit under the same sky?"

The old sage, Maitreya, smiled and drew three lines in the riverbank sand with his finger.

"Think of one travellers' crossing," he said, "from which three roads run out. One road climbs gently toward clear hills. One road is fast and steep and rocky, full of dust. One road sinks down into a dark, sleepy marsh. Every traveller stands at the same crossing, but each chooses a road, and the road slowly makes the traveller."

Vatsa watched the river. "And the food?"

"Food is only the first of the three roads I will name," said Maitreya. "The same three colours run through everything a person holds dear: the food they love, the worship they offer, the discipline they keep, and the giving they do. Each of these splits into the bright, the restless, and the dull, just as a single beam of white light splits into colours through a drop of water."

He smoothed the sand and drew it fresh: three roads again, and beside them three more, and three more.

"Tomorrow the Lord will speak this very thing to on the chariot," Maitreya said quietly, as if he could hear it across the miles. "He will say: even food is of three kinds, and so are worship, discipline, and giving. Listen to their differences, he will say. For once you can see the three roads in a plate of food, you begin to see them everywhere, and seeing them is the first step to choosing the bright one."

Vatsa looked down at the lines in the sand for a long time. Then, very softly, he asked the question that would shape the rest of his life: "Master — which road am I on right now?"

Maitreya did not answer. He only handed the young sage the stick, and let him draw his own crossing in the sand.

चिन्तनम्

Krishna says the same three qualities show up in food, in worship, in discipline, and in giving. Can you think of one ordinary choice you make every day that quietly shapes the kind of person you are becoming?