3.13 The righteous who eat the remnants of the sacrifice are freed from all sins; but those sinful ones who cook food (only) for their own sake verily eat sin.

3.13 Yajnasista-etc. Those who enjoy the pleasures of obects that have come to them on the authority of laws enjoining what is to be necessarily performed; and who enjoy them viewing [the enjoyment] only as a secondary (or intermediate) action and conseently as a subsidiary having no separate purpose; and again those who enjoy the remnant of the necessary action in the form of gratifying the group of the devas of the snese-organs-that residue of food marked with bliss in being firmly established in their own Self - that is to say, those who have mounted upon the Self and are desirous of enjoying objects only as a means to achieve this end - they are freed from all faults of good and bad. Those, who for their own selves etc. : On the other hand, those who believe, under the influence of ignorance, the sheer superficial enjoyment of objects as their final goal, and act with the notion 'We perform this [act] for the sake of ourselves' - those persons alone gain the sin in the form of good and bad.

3.13. The righteous who partake of the remnants of sacrifice (Yoga) are freed from all sins. But those sinful ones who cook (i.e., perform all actions) only for themselves, verily eat sin. Commentary: 'The righteous who partake of the remnants of sacrifice'—When one's obligatory duties are performed dispassionately and according to scriptural injunctions, what remains (in the form of the remnant of sacrifice) is Yoga or equanimity. This is the special feature of Karma Yoga: action is performed using the materials obtained from the world itself. Therefore, only when it is engaged in the service of the world does that action become established as a 'sacrifice'. After the accomplishment of the sacrifice, the 'Yoga' that remains spontaneously is for oneself. This Yoga (equanimity) itself is the remnant of sacrifice, which the Lord has called 'nectar' in the fourth chapter: 'They partake of the nectar of the remnants of sacrifice' (4.31). 'Are freed from all sins'—Here the word 'sins' is in the plural, meaning from all sins, i.e., from all bondages. However, the Lord has also used the word 'all' with this term, which gives the specific implication that upon experiencing the remnant of sacrifice, no kind of bondage remains in a person. All his actions (accumulated, destined, and those being performed) are dissolved (see note p. 135) (Gita 4.23). Upon the dissolution of all actions, he attains the eternal Brahman (Gita 4.31). In the ninth verse of this very chapter, the Lord stated that action performed for the sake of sacrifice is binding, and in the twenty-third verse of the fourth chapter, He spoke of the dissolution of all actions of the person who performs action for the sake of sacrifice. What is stated in these two verses (3.9 and 4.23) is conveyed here by the term 'from all sins'. The meaning is that a person who experiences the remnant of sacrifice becomes free from all actions that are of the nature of bondage. Sinful actions are certainly binding, but even meritorious actions performed with desire (since they yield fruit) are binding. Upon experiencing the remnant of sacrifice (equanimity), neither sin nor merit remains—'The wise one gives up both good and evil deeds here itself' (Gita 2.50). Now consider: what is the real cause of bondage? Bondage arises from the desire that 'this should be' and 'this should not be'. This desire is the root of all sins (Gita 3.37). Therefore, it is extremely necessary to renounce desire. In truth, desire has no independent existence. Desire arises from a sense of lack, and in the 'Self' (one's true nature), there is no kind of lack whatsoever, nor can there be. Therefore, there is no desire in the 'Self'. Only through error, by identifying oneself with unreal entities like the body, does a person begin to perceive a lack within himself due to the lack in those unreal entities, and to fulfill that lack, he begins to desire those unreal entities. The seeker should pay attention to this: one will only obtain things that are produced and destroyed by actions that have a beginning and an end. The lack within a person can never be fulfilled by such perishable things that are subject to birth and death. When there is no question of fulfilling one's lack with these things, then to desire them is also an error. By reflecting upon this correctly, the cessation of desire can become easy. Indeed, by never considering the so-called 'one's own' entities like the body as one's own or for oneself, and by engaging them in the service of others, one's connection with these entities is automatically severed, whereby immediate awareness of one's true nature as Existence arises. Then no lack remains. A person in whose mind there remains no notion (desire) of any kind of lack is liberated from the world even while living. 'But those who cook only for themselves'—Any feeling of wanting something for oneself, i.e., selfishness, desire, possessiveness, attachment, and even the slightest feeling of wanting to be called good, comes under the term 'for themselves'. The more selfishness a person has, the more sinful he is. Here the word 'cook' is indicative; its meaning is not limited to 'cooking' but includes the accomplishment of all worldly activities like eating, drinking, walking, sitting, etc. A person who seeks his own selfish interest, whether he cooks (acts) for himself or for another, in reality cooks only for himself. Conversely, a seeker who renounces his selfish feeling and performs his duty, whether he cooks for his so-called body or for another, in reality cooks only for the other. Not using the materials received from the world in the service of the world, but using them for one's own enjoyment, is cooking for oneself. To consider even the smallest part of the world, the body, as one's own and for oneself is a great sin. However, not considering the body as one's own, but giving it food, water, clothing, etc., as needed, and not letting it become lazy, negligent, or indulgent, is service to this body, which prevents possessiveness and attachment towards it. A person has to experience the fruit of his actions himself; but the effect of his actions falls upon the entire world. A person who performs action 'for himself' deviates from his duty, and only upon such deviation from duty do great calamities like famine, epidemic, death, etc., occur in society. Therefore, it is proper for a person not to do anything for himself, not to consider anything as his own, and not to desire anything for himself. Taking shelter in the fruits of action (anything that is subject to birth and death) comes under 'cooking for oneself'. That is why the Lord, in the first verse of the sixth chapter, instructs the Karma Yogi not to take shelter in the fruits of action with the words 'without dependence on the fruit of action'. Only by becoming completely independent does a person do nothing for himself, whereby he becomes established in Yoga. 'Verily eat sin'—In these words, the Lord has, in polite language, condemned those who act for themselves. Through actions performed for oneself, one accumulates so much sin that even after suffering the misery of eighty-four lakh species and hells, it is not exhausted; rather, it remains in an accumulated form. The human birth is a wondrous field; whatever seed of sin or merit is sown in it yields fruit for many births (see note p. 136.1). Therefore, a person should immediately resolve: 'Now I shall not commit sin (act for myself).' There is immense power in this resolve. The truth is that when there is a firm resolve to move towards God, sin automatically stops. Connection—In answer to Arjuna's question, 'Why do you engage me in terrible action?', the Lord, giving many reasons, expounds in the next two verses the necessity of performing sacrifice (duty-bound action) also for the protection of the cycle of creation.