Volunteer

SHOULD WE EAT IN FRONT OF THE DEITIES?

Hare Krsna

Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada

Prabhupāda: You distribute that prasādam. Give everyone.

Devotee: Is this a laddu?

Prabhupāda: Yes. I will also take little. Now distribute. [Pause] Oh, you take more. Why little, little? Give more. Give me also little more.

Trivikrama: Jaya!

Prabhupāda: Mmm. It is very nice.

Devotee: Prabhupāda distributes mercy to the world.

Prabhupāda: Who has made it?

Karandhara: Dhruvānanda.

Prabhupāda: Oh. He is a good cook!

Karandhara: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Mmm. He has made nice.

Sudāmā: Shall I save one for later for you?

Prabhupāda: No, no saving. [Laughter.] Give me immediately. [Laughter.] Give them.

Romaharsana: Prabhupāda? Your Divine Grace? I have a question. I was always under the impression or understanding from your teachings that one never eats in front of the Deities. Can you please explain that?

Syāmasundara: He says that he always understood that one should not eat in front of the Deity. What is the difference?

Prabhupāda: Difference is generally we should not eat before the Deity. But there is another injunction: prasādah prāptir mātrena bhoktavyah. As soon asprasādam1 comes, you should immediately eat it.

Note : Prasadam is sanctified food which has been offered first to Krishna, or God

 

pls give light on this

 

your servant 

vinay

hari bol

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  • Volunteer

    my humble obeisances!

    i heard that to honor the Mahaprasadam of those Deities from whom we are standing is not an offense. But it is not good to eat Maha Prasadam which was offered to the other Form of the Lord. 

    For example, i should not bring Maha Prasadam from Shri Shri Radha Madhav and honor it before Shri Shri Radha Gopinath and vise verso. 

    Your servant,

    • Hare Krishna Mataji

      Please accept my humble obeisances.

      All Glories to Srila Prabhupada, Srila Gurudev and Sri Sri Nitai Gauracandra.

      Not to counter your argument at all, but isn't this a bit contradictory? The reason I ask this is because isn't Sri Madhava the same Supreme Personality as Sri Gopinath? Lord Madhava is Lord Gopinath, so isn't the prasadam the same Maha Prasadam from both?

      Like if I call you Bhaktin Maral Mataji or I describe you as "That very nice and intelligent Mataji" it is the same personality I am speaking of lol. Similarly isn't Madhava - The Lord of the Goddess of Fortune, the same as Gopinath - the Lord of the Gopi's?

      Your Servant

      Bhakta David

      • Volunteer

        They are same but different also. It is inconceivable philosophy. 

        Your servant, bhaktin maral 

  • Volunteer

    Dear Prabhus,

    Please accept my humble obeisances.

    All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

    In Nectar of Devotion, ch. 8, it is mentioned as one of the offenses to the Deity to accept prasāda in front of Him. In the same chapter, it is also mentioned as an offense to belch before the Deity, so we even avoid going before Him directly after eating a full meal.

    We do not sit down with our plate and eat our meal before the Deity. But sometimes Spiritual Master or Pujari may distribute small pieces of Mahaprasadam in the temple room while the Deities are open, and in this case it is ok for devotees to honor this Mahaprasadam immediately. Devotees may prefer to move somewhat to the side as to not be directly in front of the Deities.

    In the Gurvastakam it is mentioned that the Spiritual Master is happy seeing devotees eating prasadam and, of course, Krishna is also very happy, but for ourselves, we do not eat even in front of the spiritual master, unless he invites us to do so. And our present platform of worshipping Krishna is awe and reverence, all the Deity worship rules are for worship in awe and reverence. He is the Lord and we are servant. We do not want to develop an unhealthy familiarity. We have to become purified, before we can see Him as He is. So we do not eat in front of Him.

    But of course, for the devotees who have achieved the platform of spontaneous devotional service (bhava and prema), there are no more offenses, because whatever they do is out of spontaneous love. For the residents of Vrindavana, Krishna's eternal associates, there are no rules and regulations, because they have already achieved perfection. They may eat with Krishna, play with Krishna, chastise Krishna, and He simply enjoys it. Unless we come to that platform, we cannot imitate them, we have to follow rules. Otherwise we may become sahajiya or just sentimental.

    Srila Prabhupada is also a pure, exalted devotee, so he can never commit any offense. But usually he would still observe the rules to set good example. In some situations, however, his intimate relationship with Krishna became visible. Just like the twin brother Pujaris of Sridham Mayapur recall (I apologize that I do not remember, was he Pankajanghri Prabhu or Jananivasa Prabhu) that one time Srila Prabhupada was instructing one of them in Deity worship and when it was time to offer garland to the Lord, there was no garland. So Srila Prabhupada took off his own garland and put it on Krishna. So he can do such things, but we cannot. For us it would be offense.

    I hope this helps you in some way,

    Your servant,

    Madhavi-lata d.d.

    • Volunteer

      Hare Krsna Madhavi lata mata ji

      Please accept my humble obeisances All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

       

      thank u vry much for this wonderful reply...its really helpful...

      thank u 

       

      your servant

      vinay 

      hari bol

      • Partaking of Prasada 

         

          DEAR MADHAVI LATA DEVI DASI 

             THANKYOU FOR YOUR THOUGHTFUL REPPLY 

         Bhaktivedanta VedaBaseNectar of Devotion   Chapter 9: Further Considerations of Devotional Principles

        There is this specific statement in the Padma Purana: "A person who honors the prasada and regularly eats it, not exactly in front of the Deity, along with caranamrita [the water offered to the lotus feet of the Lord, which is mixed with seeds of the tulasi tree], immediately can achieve the results of pious activities which are obtained through ten thousand performances of sacrificial rites."

           YOU MAY SEE ABOVE NECTOR OF DEVOTION I COULD NOT SEE THE WORD OFFENSE TO EAT IN FRONT OF DEITY. WE TAKE CARANAMRITA   IT FRONT OF DEITIES. IT IS ALL A QUESTION OF LOVE AND MOOD JUST LIKE WE MAY KNOW SO MANY MANTRAS AND SLOKAS, WEAR NICE TILAKA AND HAVE VERY CLEAN CLOTH AND RING THE BELL TO OFFER BOGA TO  LORD KRSNA AND RADHA BUT IF WE HAVE NOT THE RIGHT MOOD OR LOVE KRSN AWILL NEVER ACCEPT IT.

         ON THE OTHER HAND A PERSON MAY NOT HAVE CLEAN CLOTH KNOW THE MANTRAS BUT HAS THE RIGHT MOOD AND LOVE.SO LONG BEFORE HE RINGS THE BELL KRSNA HAS ALREADY EATEN  

            DO NOT THINK THAT ONLY THE HIGHEST DEVOTEE HAS A REALATIONSHIP WITH LORD AND ALL OTHERS ARE IN LOW POSITION WE CAN NOT SEE WHO A DEVOTEE IS OR WAS IN A PREVIOUS BIRTH 

           TRY TO UNDERSTAND DIDI THAT OFFENCES HAPPEN WHEN WE HAVE NOT THE CORRECT MOOD OR LOVE .

           WHERE THERE IS LOVE AND RIGHT MOOD AND MOTIVE MOOD THEN THERE ARE NO OFFENCES . THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT A DEVOTEE IS A PRETENDER OR AS YOU SAY SAHAJIYA OR SENTIMENTAL .ALL DEVOTEES HAVE SOME LOVE FOR GURU AND KRSNA OTHERWISE HOW THEY ARE STILL ON THIS PATH ?

            WE CAN NOT SEE WHO IS WHO.

             AND TO TELL THAT WE ARE ALL AWA AND REVERENCE IS NOT CORRECT OUR FIVE FINGERS ON OUR HAND ARE NOT THE SAME SIZE.

          I SAW ONE BLIND VAISNAVE OLD MOTHER NOT A MEMBER OF ISKCON A MEMER OF WHAT YOU CALL A DIFFERENT SAMPRADAYA SHE FED JAGANNATHA WITH HER HAND TO HIS MOUTH. LET ME SAY THAT WHEN I ACCEPTED THAT PRASHADAM IT WAS THE MOST AMAZING EXPERIENCE I HAVE HAD IN MY LIFE OF HONOURING MAHAPRASHADAM .BECAUSE SHE HAD REAL LOVE AND AFFECTION .

        THAT PRIDE THAT I AM FOLLOWING RULES AND REGULATIONS IS ALSO NOT HEALTHY, WE HAVE TO ALWAYS LOOK WITHIN TO SEE OUR MOOD AND MOTIVE AND LOVE 

           LORD KRSN IS BHAVAGRIHI LORD WHO SEES THE MOOD THE BHAVA .

              YOUR BROTHER 

             JAGADISH PANDIT DAS 

           

         
        • Volunteer

          Hare Krsna prabhuji.    pranams. very nice discussion. 

          My humble understanding is   eating means eating,   like coming in the temple chewing pan or eating other such food before the deity.      Honoring the Lords maha prasadam before the deity is not an offense. 

          this is in the commentary on BRS of Visvanath Chakravarti  Thakur.     

          But you may still feel shy to eat before the deity as many do and immediately take the maha prasadam outside.     Also closing the deity doors when the devotees take prasadam sitting together in the temple room is a temple standard  not necessarily followed in the home worship. 

          I certainly would not enter the temple with some prasadam from the maha shop and begin eating it before the deity.  Neither would I encourage it.     I would feel that was too disrespectful.     Hare Krsna.

  • Volunteer

    Hare Krsna, humble obeisances AGTSP

    Yes prabhuji, we should not take prasadam infront of the deities. I remember going to a very nice devotees house. Before they offered us prasadam, they first closed curtains of the alter. So we must strictly follow these rules. Just like how you should never offer obeisances to anyone before Krsna's deity similarly we shouldn't eat before Krsna. It's an offense.

    Your servant

    •     HARE KRSNA DEAR PRIYA SUTRADHAR 

          I HEARD FROM THE VAISNAVES THAT IF WE TELL SOMETHING THEN WE HAVE TO SHOW IN SASTRA WERE IT IS SAID LIKE THAT . SO PLEASE CAN YOU TELL WHAT SLOKA TELLS THAT IT IS AN OFFENSE TO EAT IN FRONT OF THE DEITIES .

         I FEEL HOW POSSIBLE THE SUPREME FATHER WILL BE UNHAPPY SEEING HIS SONS AND DAUGHTERS EAT HIS REMNANTS.

       I FEEL GREAT JOY SEEING MY TWO SMALL BOYS EATING AGE 2 AND 4 . DO YOU THINK MOTHER YASODA AND NANDAN MAHARAJ CLOSE A CURTAIN ON KRSNA AND THEN EAT ? 

         WE SEE KRSNA EATING WITH ALL HIS FRIENDS AND SOMETIMES SNACHING FOOD FROM THERE MOUTHS AND THEN EATING . 

          EVERYTHING IS ABOUT MOOD AND MOTIVE , OUR BEST FRIEND KRSNA IS VERY LOVING ONE OF LORD KRSNAS NAMES IS BHAVAGRIE - ONE WH SEES THE MOOD .

          HARE BOL BROTHER 

            JAGADISH PANDIT DAS 

    •     HARE KRSNA DEAR PRIYA SUTRADHAR 

          I HEARD FROM THE VAISNAVES THAT IF WE TELL SOMETHING THEN WE HAVE TO SHOW IN SASTRA WERE IT IS SAID LIKE THAT . SO PLEASE CAN YOU TELL WHAT SLOKA TELLS THAT IT IS AN OFFENSE TO EAT IN FRONT OF THE DEITIES .

         I FEEL HOW POSSIBLE THE SUPREME FATHER WILL BE UNHAPPY SEEING HIS SONS AND DAUGHTERS EAT HIS REMNANTS.

       I FEEL GREAT JOY SEEING MY TWO SMALL BOYS EATING AGE 2 AND 4 . DO YOU THINK MOTHER YASODA AND NANDAN MAHARAJ CLOSE A CURTAIN ON KRSNA AND THEN EAT ? 

         WE SEE KRSNA EATING WITH ALL HIS FRIENDS AND SOMETIMES SNACHING FOOD FROM THERE MOUTHS AND THEN EATING . 

          EVERYTHING IS ABOUT MOOD AND MOTIVE , OUR BEST FRIEND KRSNA IS VERY LOVING ONE OF LORD KRSNAS NAMES IS BHAVAGRIE - ONE WH SEES THE MOOD .

          HARE BOL BROTHER 

            JAGADISH PANDIT DAS 

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