Bhagavad Gita 4.31
यज्ञशिष्टामृतभुजो यान्ति ब्रह्म सनातनम् । नायं लोकोऽस्त्ययज्ञस्य कुतोऽन्यः कुरुसत्तम ॥
yajña-śiṣṭāmṛta-bhujo yānti brahma sanātanam | nāyaṃ loko 'sty ayajñasya kuto 'nyaḥ kuru-sattama ||
Translation
Those who eat the nectar-like remains of sacrifice go to the eternal Brahman. This world is not for the man without sacrifice; how then the other?
Reflection
What have you been receiving from a cycle you have not yet contributed back to?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Four
Yajña-śiṣṭa-amṛta-bhujaḥ. Those who eat the immortal leftover of sacrifice. The verse picks up the food image from 3.13 and intensifies it: the leftover is now nectar. Nāyaṃ loko 'sty ayajñasya, this world is not for the man without sacrifice. The line is severe. Kuto 'nyaḥ, how then the other? If the basic transaction is refused, no other reward applies. Shankara reads the verse not as moralism but as logic: the man who eats only for himself has cut himself off from the cycle that would have carried him anywhere.