Sanskrit
यातयामं गतरसं पूति पर्युषितं च यत् । उच्छिष्टमपि चामेध्यं भोजनं तामसप्रियम् ॥
yātayāmaṃ gatarasaṃ pūti paryuṣitaṃ ca yat ucchiṣṭam api cāmedhyaṃ bhojanaṃ tāmasapriyam
Translation
That which is stale and flat, putrid and corrupt, leavings also and unclean, is the food dear to the dark.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Where rajasic food was defined by excess, tamasic food is defined by neglect and decay — yātayāma literally means food that has sat past its proper watch, stale by the clock rather than by any positive quality. This closes the three-verse food sequence with tamas doing what it does everywhere else in the Gita’s framework: not activity gone wrong, like rajas, but the absence of care altogether — inertia, staleness, and indifference to what’s fit for use.