Guest guest Posted June 20, 2002 Report Share Posted June 20, 2002 Adi_shakti16 What is this panchamrit? There are two ways of looking at panchamrit! In one instance, the five ingredients (panch means five and amrit means nectar) are use to do abisekha (bathe) to the deities with the help of a shankh or conch...... These five ingredients are 1) milk 2) yoghurt 3) sugar 4) honey 5) ghee (clarified butter) but PANCHAMRITAM is also made as an offering to the deity as neivedayiam (divine offering) and then partaken as "prasad" by the devotees - any food that is blessed by the deity is free of sin as per hindu beliefs. there is no "karma" attached to it! Traditional recipe THERE are five ingredients that go into the making of Panchamritam- 1)honey 2)ripe bananas 3) milk 4) ghee 5)yoghurt crush the bananas, add milk (unboiled), ghee, yoghurt and honey - this is for immediate consumption -cannot be stored for long. But if you want to store for longer periods of time , then try this modern version... Fruits - 1 banana, grapes- a small buch, raisins - 1 tsp, dry dates - 2 pieces, jack fruit - 2 pieces, 1 apple Cut the fruits into even sized pieces. To this add honey, jaggery,(brown sugar) and ghee. Mix well. Store in air tight container. Before tasting this divine nectar chant the following sloka to MATA ANNAPURNESHWERI, THE PRESIDING DEITY OF KASHI, DIVINE CONSORT OF SHIVA... OM ANNAPUURNE SADAA PUURNE SANKARA PRAANABALLABHE JNAANAVAIRAAGDASIDDHHARTHAM BHIKSHAAM DEHI NAMO STU TE Om Goddess who is full, complete and perfect with food and grains, always full, complete and perfect, the strength of the life force of Shiva, the Cause of Peace. For the attainment of perfection in wisdom and renunciation, please give me offerings. I bow down to you. This combination i.e. milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar is also advised by some eminent Ayurvedic Physicians to their patients ! DJ, NEXT TIME YOU VISIT INDIA, GO TO PALANI- palani panchamritam is the best- here the Sri Murugan (or palani andavar -son of shiva and parvati) is bathed in panchamritam and the devotee who tastes this panchamritam is cured of all ailments! Palani- means you are the fruit! here shiva told karthikeya that " since you are the fruit , you do not need any fruit from your mother parvati." chevreuil_4ans Hi, thank you for the 'recipe'. These are all very good ingredients to eat, as far as taste, hmm. .Are these supposed to be aphrodisiac in nature ? A few years back I remember ordering from the Ayurvedic catalog a jar of 'amrit' nectar..It came from Montreal, Quebec. I cannot remember what the rest of the words or all the ingredients were..There were many and it was very onctuous, very rich. One had to consume a Tbsp per day.. .....Calendula adi_shakthi16 Well, thanks, dear one! well when i cook i cook for the one i love, serving the food for the one i love, and then pleasing the one i love with my cooking and then later eating the remnants... as prasad! The one i love is also the one you love and the whole world loves! the creator! As far as being "aphrodisiac" is concerned - i do believe that milk, honey, nuts (like almondsetc), fruits etc increase the "virya" in a man ( sexual energy) and of course all these ( in limited quantities) have great nutrients and are good for women as well! in ayurveda , a tablespoon of panchamrita is highly recommended! If you ask me, dear one, if you keep GOD/ GODDESS as the centre in any relationship, it takes you to ecstatic heights- any pun intended is purely accidental! smiles!!!! approach your partner with the HEART (HRIDAYA CHAKRA) not just with mind and body! Romance begins in prayer room, travels through the kitchen and enters the bedrioom, dear! i am not dr ruth, now1` lol adi_shakthi16 Food is brahman! Brahmaarpanam Brahma Havir Brahmaagnau Brahmanaa Hutam Brahmaiva Tena Gantavyam Brahma Karma Samaadhinaha Meaning: [This is 24th verse from the 4th chapter of Bhagavad Geetha] The act of offering is Brahman. The offering itself is Brahman. The offering is done by Brahman in the sacred fire which is Brahman. He alone attains Brahman who, in all actions, is fully absorbed in Brahman. (As we chant this prayer we are offering the different types of food to Brahman). It is customary to offer prayers to god/goddess before eating one's food! so, here are some of the prayers that are recited before eating food. just like christians say "grace" , some hindus recite such prayers! Mother Annapurna devi of kashi! Swayam pancamukha putro gajanana shadannanano digambaraha katham jivet annapurna na cha grihe shiva has five mouths (panchamukaha) ganesha has the mouth of an elephant (gajanana -voracious eater) shanmukha the other son has six mouths (shadannana) How would shiva (digambaraha -one wears sky as a clothing) survive if mother Annapurna (Parvati) was not at home ? the esoteric meaning is mother ANNAPURNA is a great nurturer ! she can feed a whole army because she is full of abundance and plenty! but, our goddess gives us spiritual food also! bukthi mukthi pradayini! second verse... swayam mahesha sasuro nagesha sakha dhaneshwerah sutah ganahacha tatapi biksha daname va shambho baliyasi ke balame eshwerashcha Shiva himself is the greatest of all ,(maheshwera) Shiva's father in law is the king of mountains,(parvata raja-himavan) Shiva's friend the king of wealth (vishnu ) Shiva's son the King of the gaNas.(ganapati) Even then SHIVA IS roaming around begging for food WHY? WHY? IS IT SHIVA'S DESTINY or is it shiva's own desire ? The point of this sloka is Shiva is powerful ; but, yet he wishes to be like an ascetic; renunciating all material possessions; wearing only a tiger skin as a loin cloth; also, carrying the "alms" bowl begging for food from door to door! This brings us to a very important question - Why do sadhus beg for food? is this the ultimate form of renunciation? Sivatrisoolam HI, OM HREEM NAMAH SHIVAYA. BEFORE YOU CONSUMED OR RECEIVE ANYTHING LIKE THEERTHAM, MILK, PANCHAMRITAM, SWEETS FROM THE PRIEST, IN TEMPLE OR ANYTHING TO CONSUMED WITH DIVINE, YOU SHOULD SAY "AMIRTHAM" BEFORE YOU TAKE MEAL YOU CAN READ THIS:- ANNAP PUURANI SHATHA PUURANI SANKRA BRAANA VALLABEE NYAANA VAIRAAKIYA SHITHAARTHAM BIKSHAM THEEHI SHAPAARVATHEE ANNAM BAALIKUM THILLAI SITTRAMBALAM PONNAM BAALIKKUM MEELUMIP BUUMISAI ENNAM BAALIKKUMAARU KANDU INBURA INNAM BAALIKKUMOO IPPIRAVIYEE PRAY TO MOTHER ANNAPUURANI TO THANK HER FOR THE MEAL.BECAUSE ALL IN THIS WORLD ARE BELONG TO GOD AND PRAY TO HER AND TELLING HER SO THAT IS MEAL WILL BE ALWAYS THERE FOR ALL OF US. HERE IS SOME IMPORTANT MESSAGE ... WHEN WE GOING TO TAKE OUR MEAL FIRST, TAKE SOME DISH FROM THE MEAL AND SEPARATE IT FROM OUR MEAL IN PLATE AND PUT IT IN THE CORNER. WHY WE MUST DO THIS? WE SHOULD DO THIS BECAUSE IF ANY OF YOU HAVE RELATIVE WHICH HAVE BEEN PASSED AWAY, THIS SOME FOOD FOR THEM.IF THERE IS NO ONE LIKE THAT, OFFER THE FOOD TO YOUR ISTHA DEIVAM. THIS IS A GOOD HABIT WHICH MUST ALL OF US FOLLOW ALWAYS REMMEMBER GOD WHEN YOU DO ANYTHING.THANK YOU. SARVAM SHAKTIMAYAM adi_shakthi16 VANAKKAM! Thanks for the wonderful verses. Also, what i do everyday is prepare a little extra food so that if any unknown guest arrives , we have some food to serve him/her.... well, this is more true in india than u.s. a here no guest arrives without giving you a prior warning... guests are like gods as the saying goes- atithi devo baavaha! Also, while in india i always prepared more quantity of food than needed to feed the woman (my domestic help and her kids) who used to help me with household chores like cleaning, washing clothes etc... her fringe benefit and the satisfaction i got out of feeding god's children. Also, it is always a good practice to feed the birds and the pets and other animals also as they are all god's creation. it is said, sri ramana maharishi always fed his favorite cow "lakshmi" before sitting down for a meal..... Cleopatra's servant maids always tasted the food before serving their queen to make sure it was free of poisonous substance ! many Indian kings used to feed animals before they ate to make sure there was no assasination attempt on their lives.... so it goes.... nora55_1999 My personal believe is that Food itself is God. And the act of cooking can be very spiritual in itself. Its because you are eating "GOD" consuming it into your body and be nourish with all the goodness. To throw away food, is throwing away GOD. I know in certain part of India, they worship Goddess Lakshmi in a form of food. adi_shakthi16 yes nora! Bingo! annam is lakshmi! food is also braHMan as per upanishads! to throw away food is a heinous act when there are millions in the wworld who are hungry and homeless! also, imagine how many people sweat and toil to place the food on your table! This may be of interset to all of the members here... One day, Brighu, the son of Varuna approached his father and asked him: "Father! Will you enlighten me about Brahman?" Sage Varuna replied endearingly: "Son, none can enlighten anyone on Brahman. One has to experience through meditation. Go and do meditation and carry on self-enquiry. I bless you." Brighu went into a forest and sat for meditation. He used to carry on self-enquiry too. He used to contemplate on several questions related to the spiritual world. One day, he thought: 'What is the most essential thing that is necessary for the existence of all living beings in general and man in particular? It must be food', he decided. Man lives, grows and works only because of food, the most essential thing for life is food, so food is Brahman." He ran to his father and said: "Father, I know what is Brahman. Food is Brahman." Varuna replied with a smile: "No, my son, food is not Brahman. Go and meditate." Brighu went to the forest and continued his tapas for some more time. One day he thought, 'food may be essential, but unless there is energy, how can the food be digested? What is that energy? It must be prana (vital air) so prana is Brahman.' So, he went to his father and said: "Father, I know what is Brahman, Prana is Brahman." Varuna replied: "No, my son, go and meditate for some more days." Brighu obeyed his father's command. He continued his meditation. One day he thought, 'Food is essential, prana is essential, but what is more essential? Unless one has desire to live and to eat, of what avail is food and prana? The seat of desire is mind. So Manas is Brahman' he decided. Brighu reported about his discovery and said: "Father, Manas is Brahman." Varuna smiled and said: "Son, no, Manas is not Brahman. Go and do tapas for some more days." Brighu continued his meditation. One day he thought 'Food is essential, prana is essential, manas is also essential, but what is still more essential? Unless one is able to distinguish and discriminate between good and evil, of what use is this life? What is the seat of this discriminating faculty? It is intellect, vijnan.' So vijnan is Brahman", he decided. Brighu went and told his father: "Father, vijnan is Brahman". Varuna once again said: "Son, no, vijnan is not Brahman. Go and do tapas for some more days." Brighu once again continued to do tapas. One day he thought, 'Food gives strength, parna energises, manas causes desires, and vijnan endows man with discrimination (viveka). But, I must find out what is the ultimate goal of man's life. I have to experience it'. Having thus resolved, he went into deep meditation again. One day, he experienced an ineffable joy and he sat utterly unconscious of the outside world. That day, Varuna came to the forest in search of his son. He was happy to see his son in samadhi. From the effulgence which shone on Brighu's face, he knew that his son had realised that 'Bliss is Brahman'. In the upanishadic age, parents and preceptors used to encourage their pupils to ask questions, yet they would not give them immediate answers. They would advise them to carry on self enquiry and find out the answers for themselves. from the web LAKSHMI as DHANYALAKSHMI! OUR DIVINE MOTHER GODDESS IS WORSHIPPED IN MANY FORMS -one of her eight forms (asthalakshmi) is Dhanyalakshmi- as mother of crops (or foodgrains)! thanks nora for reminding us of this! Here is a sloka to honor mother goddess lakshmi as dhanyalakshmi! dara-putras tatha garam suhrid-dhanya dhanadikam bhavaty etan maha-bhage nityam tvad-vikshanam nrinam "O exalted one, men are endowed with wives, sons, houses, friends, GRAINS and wealth due to your constant glance." SALUTATIONS TO DHANYALAKSHMI! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.