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THE OFFERING OF OBLATIONS. PART 1.‏

The oblations offered to the Pitṛloka or the sacrifice performed to please the Pitṛloka, considered as a kind of drug in the form of clarified butter, is also Kṛṣṇa.
(Bhagavad-Gita-----9:16-----purport).

"Others, who are interested in achieving self-realization through control of the mind and senses, offer the functions of all the senses, and of the life breath, as oblations into the fire of the controlled mind."
(Bhagavad-Gita-----4:25-----purport).

I do not enjoy the oblations offered by the sacrificers in the sacrificial fire, which is one of My own mouths, with the same relish as I do the delicacies overflowing with ghee which are offered to the mouths of the brāhmaṇas who have dedicated to Me the results of their activities and who are ever satisfied with My prasāda.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----3:16:8-----translation).

Śrāddha is a ritualistic performance observed by the followers of the Vedas. There is a yearly occasion of fifteen days when ritualistic religionists follow the principle of offering oblations to departed souls. Thus those fathers and ancestors who, by freaks of nature, might not have a gross body for material enjoyment can again gain such bodies due to the offering of śrāddha oblations by their descendants.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----3:20:43-----purport).

The performance of śrāddha, or offering oblations with prasāda, is still current in India, especially at Gayā, where oblations are offered at the lotus feet of Viṣṇu in a celebrated temple.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----3:20:43-----purport).

In the morning, the first duty of a brahmacārī seeking spiritual elevation is huta-hutāśana, to offer sacrificial oblations to the Supreme Lord. Those engaged in brahmacarya cannot sleep until seven or nine o'clock in the morning. They must rise early in the morning, at least one and a half hours before the sun rises, and offer oblations, or in this age, they must chant the holy name of the Lord, Hare Kṛṣṇa.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----3:21:45-47-----purport).

The predominating deity of fire begot in his wife, Svāhā, three children, named Pāvaka, Pavamāna and Śuci, who exist by eating the oblationsoffered to the fire of sacrifice.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----4:1:60-----translation).

Oblations offered in the sacrificial fire are meant for the demigods, and on behalf of the demigods the three sons of Agni and Svāhā, namely Pāvaka, Pavamāna and Śuci, accept the oblations.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----4:1:60-----purport).

Lord Kṛṣṇa says, mad-bhakta-pūjābhyadhikā: (S.B.11:19:21) "The worship of My devotees is better than worship of Me." Similarly, in the Padma Purāṇa, it is stated that the best mode of worship is to offer oblations to Viṣṇu, but better than that is to worship the devotees of Kṛṣṇa.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----4:3:3-----purport).

By offering oblations in the fire while chanting the Vedic mantra svāhā, one offers respect to all the demigods, great sages and Pitās, including Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva and Lord Viṣṇu.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----4:4:9-----purport).

In the sacrificial fire if the oblations are offered into the flames, then Lord Viṣṇu is situated there in the form of the flames.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----4:13:35-----purport).

It is not that everyone's father becomes a ghost, but the oblations of piṇḍa are offered to the lotus feet of Lord Viṣṇu so that if a family member happens to become a ghost, he will be favored with a gross body.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----4:18:18-----purport).

If one offers oblations with faith and devotion—either to the lotus feet of Lord Viṣṇu or to His representative in Pitṛloka, Aryamā—one's forefathers will attain material bodies to enjoy whatever material enjoyment is due them.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----4:18:18-----purport).

When performing sacrifices, one offers oblations to the sacrificial fire, but when such oblations are offered to Vaiṣṇavas, they are certainly more effective.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----4:21:41-----purport).

If we directly offer oblations to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the demigods are automatically satisfied.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----5:7:6-----purport).

It is the duty of all householders to offer food grains to all their departed forefathers, but during the time of Hiraṇyakaśipu this process was stopped; no one would offer śrāddha oblations of food grains to the forefathers with great respect.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----7:8:44-----purport).

Yajñas were previously performed with offerings of oblations of ghee and food grains, but in this age, of course, this is no longer possible, for the production of ghee and food grains has diminished because of the sinful life of human society.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----7:14:7-----purport).

When one is enriched with wealth and knowledge which are under his full control and by means of which he can perform yajña or please the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one must perform sacrifices, offering oblations to the fire according to the directions of the śāstras. In this way one should worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----7:14:16-----translation).

As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (3.9), yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ: all fruitive activities should be performed for sacrifice, which should be directed toward pleasing Kṛṣṇa. As stated elsewhere in Bhagavad-gītā (5.29), bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram: He is the Supreme Lord and enjoyer of everything. However, although sacrifice may be offered to please Kṛṣṇa, He is more pleased when grains and ghee, instead of being offered in the fire, are prepared as prasāda and distributed, first to the brāhmaṇas and then to others. This system pleases Kṛṣṇa more than anything else. Furthermore, at the present time there is very little chance to offer sacrifices by pouring oblations of food grains and ghee into the fire.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----7:14:17-----purport).

A brāhmaṇa who is sufficiently rich must offer oblations to the forefathers during the dark-moon fortnight in the latter part of the month of Bhādra. Similarly, he should offer oblations to the relatives of the forefathers during the mahālayā ceremonies in the month of Āśvina.*
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----7:14:19-----translation).

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has given quotations from many śāstras stating that the śrāddha ceremony of oblations to the forefathers should not be performed on Ekādaśī tithi.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----7:14:20-23-----purport).

The Lord says, "It is not necessary that one become very expert in Vedic knowledge before he can become My bhakta, or devotee. Even if one is born in a family of dog-eaters, he can become My devotee and be very dear to Me, in spite of having taken birth in such a family. Therefore, offerings should be given to My devotee, and whatever My devotee has offered Me should be accepted." Following this principle, one should invite a first-class brāhmaṇa or Vaiṣṇava—a realized soul—and feed him while observing the śrāddha ceremony to offer oblations to one's forefathers.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----7:15:3-----purport).

Fire, which is born for the sake of accepting oblations in ritualistic ceremonies, is the mouth of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Fire exists within the depths of the ocean to produce wealth, and fire is also present in the abdomen to digest food and produce various secretions for the maintenance of the body. May that supremely powerful Personality of Godhead be pleased with us.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----7:5:35-----translation).

It is through Agni, or fire, that the Lord accepts all sacrificial oblations.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----8:7:26-----purport).

"In this age of Kali, five acts are forbidden: the offering of a horse in sacrifice, the offering of a cow in sacrifice, the acceptance of the order of sannyāsa, the offering of oblations of flesh to the forefathers, and a man's begetting children in his brother's wife."
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----9:6:7-----purport).

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