Bhagavad-Gita Chapter 17, Verse 9

[manikantan]

	Chapter 17: The Divisions of Faith
	Verse: 9 katv-amla-lavanaty-ushna- tikshna-ruksha-vidahinah ahara rajasasyeshta duhkha-sokamaya-pradah

Translation:
Foods that are too bitter, too sour, salty, hot, pungent, dry and burning are dear to those in the mode of passion. Such foods cause distress, misery and disease.

Explanation:
The verse described the foods dear to those in the mode of passion. The seven adjectives (bitter, sour, salty, hot, pungent, dry, burning) should be qualified with the superlative "very." Very bitter food means such food as nima. Very sour, very salty and very hot foods are well known. Very pungent foods are turmeric root and other items, or pepper. Very drying foods are hing and kodrava. Burning foods are those that cause internal heat, such as burned chick peas. These cause suffering, lamentation, and disease. The word suffering here refers to suffering when eating, causing pain to the tongue, throat or other organ. Lamentation means afterward, in the future, those foods cause despair and disease.

Srila Prabhupada comments, "Foods in the mode of passion, which are bitter, too salty, or too hot or overly mixed with red pepper, cause misery by reducing the mucus in the stomach, leading to disease."

Please read the Sanskrit Verse and the Prabhupada's Purport.

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One's memory of Krishna is revived by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. By this practice of chanting and hearing the sound vibration of the Supreme Lord, one's ear, tongue and mind are engaged. This mystic meditation is very easy to practice, and it helps one attain the Supreme Lord.

Chant:

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare