Text 9

katv-amla-lavanaty-usna-
tiksna-ruksa-vidahinah
ahara rajasasyesta
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.

Commentary by Srila Prabhupada

No commentary by Srila Prabhupada.

Commentary by Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur

In this list the adjective "extremely" should be added to each quality. Very bitter food (katu) means such food as nima. Very sour, very salty and very hot foods are well known. Very sharp foods (tiksna) are tumeric root and other items, or pepper. Very drying foods (ruksa) are hing and kodrava. Burning foods (vidahinah) are those that cause internal heat, such as burned chick peas. These cause suffering (duhkha), lamentation (soka), and disease (amayam). 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. Amaya means disease.