Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan

Bg 17.10

yāta-yāmaṁ gata-rasaṁ
pūti paryuṣitaṁ ca yat
ucchiṣṭam api cāmedhyaṁ
bhojanaṁ tāmasa-priyam

Synonyms: 

yāta–yāmam — food cooked three hours before being eaten; gata–rasam — tasteless; pūti — bad-smelling; paryuṣitam — decomposed; ca — also; yat — that which; ucchiṣṭam — remnants of food eaten by others; api — also; ca — and; amedhyam — untouchable; bhojanam — eating; tāmasa — to one in the mode of darkness; priyam— dear.

Translation: 

Food prepared more than three hours before being eaten, food that is tasteless, decomposed and putrid, and food consisting of remnants and untouchable things is dear to those in the mode of darkness.

 bhojanaṁ tāmasa-priyam, so what is the kind of food which is pleasing to Tamasik people? 

yāta-yāmaṁ, the food which is cooked and stored for a long time. 

gata-rasaṁ and the juice within which is gone away 

pūti paryuṣitaṁ ca yat, that which is fault smelling that which is decomposed, 

ucchiṣṭam api cāmedhyaṁ, ucchiṣṭa of spiritual master is considered auspicious but not of other people, it is considered tamasik, 

cāmedhyaṁ, it is untouchable 

so these are the food which are in mode of ignorance and one should avoid these kinds of foods. 

Now technical specification of which food apply in what category that will vary with time place and circumstances.

Some people says that bake food which is preserved for long time is also in mode of tamo guna, generally when we talk about Prasad we talk about whether it is cooked properly offered to Krishna and then we take it, so even the baked food if it is preserved for long time it will be having its harmful effects. So generally we focus on whether food is cooked properly and offered to Krishna, when food is offered to Krishna we should not go in too much of analysis is this food is in passion, this food is in ignorance, no Prasad is Prasad, as it is offered to Krishna, other consideration of goodness, passion and ignorance is subordinate to this principle. At the same time material things have material effects, if one is having diabetes and some sweet Prasad is there that is the not the only way to get Prasad, Krishna Prasad come as holy name it also come in the form of Bhagavad Gita which says Yukta Aharas Viharasya, so we have to use our intelligence and our  common sense to understand what we should eat, if devotees has to travel long distance they can take food which is cooked long time ago, which is better than material food. There is Vedic standard but we have to understand that we live in a time and society where all the standards cannot not be followed we have to understand that Spiritual principles are higher than material principles. Spiritual principle is food is to be offered to Krishna.  

Purport: Therefore to make food antiseptic, eatable and palatable for all persons, one should offer food to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

So antiseptic, because karmic contamination will no longer be there

Eatable because it is worthy for human beings to eat.

Palatable, because Sri Krishna’s saliva is there on prasadam, and that is why it tastes special. Many people wonder how prasadam tastes so good.

End of transcription.