prasada to poor people

[Guest guest]

I haven't seen Jayadvaita M.'s comments so this is not a reponse to

his text. It is simply to point out that prasadam distribution is, along

with sankirtan, the yajna for this age to save the fallen people. So whether

that goes on under the flag of ISKCON, Hare Krishna Food for Life or

whatever, if the foodstuffs are indeed offered to the Lord and then

distributed, that is a transcendental activity aimed at the liberation of

the conditioned soul. As such it should always be encouraged.

 

Here's a few quotes from Srila Prabhupada:

 

"So paratma-nistham. The sannyasi should worship the Deity in the temple and

feed the poor. Poor does not mean that one who has no legs, no ears, or

no... Poor... Everyone who is spiritually poor, he should be given prasadam.

By eating, prasade sarva-duhkhanam hanir asyopajayate. That is called

paramatma-nistham. Yajna. It is called yajna-sistasino santo mucyante

sarva-kilbisaih. It is not poor-feeding. It is distributing the resultant

action of yajna. This worship is yajna. So yajna-sistasino... If you feed

some men, not the so-called poor, everyone, then they'll be freed from their

sinful activities. Yajna-sistasino santah mucyante sarva-kilbisaih.

Kilbisaih means sinful activities. Therefore prasada distribution. Because

everyone is engaged simply duskrtinah, simply sinful activities. Eating

everything, doing everything, and they're life is full of sinful activities.

Therefore to deliver them this prasada distribution is required."

>>> Ref. Sannyasa Initiation Lecture -- Calcutta, January 26, 1973

 

Everything is controlled by the demigods. Under the circumstances, in this

age, in order to keep the balance of social peace and prosperity, all

intelligent men should execute the performance of sankirtana-yajna by

chanting the holy names Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare

Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. One should invite people, chant Hare

Krsna, and then distribute prasada. This yajna will satisfy all the

demigods, and thus there will be peace and prosperity in the world.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 4.6.53

 

The whole target of life, therefore, is to please Lord Visnu. That is yajna.

Any person who is in Krsna consciousness has dedicated his life for the

satisfaction of Krsna, the origin of all Visnu forms, and by offering

worship and prasada daily, he becomes the best performer of yajna.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 4.7.41

 

In this age of Kali, however, the great sacrifice is the performance of

sankirtana-yajna. Our Krsna consciousness movement is designed to teach

people (and to learn ourselves) the exact instruction of the Personality of

Godhead. In this way we shall continuously perform the sankirtana-yajna and

continuously chant the Hare Krsna mantra. Then at the end of our lives we

shall certainly be able to remember Krsna, and our program of life will be

successful. In this age, distribution of prasada has replaced distribution

of money. No one has sufficient money to distribute, but if we distribute

krsna-prasada as far as possible, this is more valuable than the

distribution of money.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 4.9.25

 

therefore, it is recommended in the sastras that people should perform

sankirtana-yajna. Any householder, regardless of his position, can perform

this sankirtana-yajna without expenditure. All the family members can sit

down together and simply clap their hands and chant the Hare Krsna

maha-mantra. Somehow or other, everyone can manage to perform such a yajna

and distribute prasada to the people in general. That is quite sufficient

for this age of Kali. The Krsna consciousness movement is based on this

principle: chant the Hare Krsna mantra at every moment, as much as possible,

both inside and outside of the temples, and, as far as possible, distribute

prasada. This process can be accelerated with the cooperation of state

administrators and those who are producing the country's wealth. Simply by

liberal distribution of prasada and sankirtana, the whole world can become

peaceful and prosperous.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 4.12.10

 

[sB 11.5.32] in this age, those who are intellectual offer yajna, or perform

sacrifices, through the sankirtana movement. Everyone should join the

sankirtana movement, offering to the fire of this movement the oblations of

his knowledge and riches. In our sankirtana movement, or Hare Krsna

movement, we offer sumptuous prasada to the Deity and later distribute the

same prasada to the brahmanas, the Vaisnavas and then to the people in

general. Krsna's prasada is offered to the brahmanas and Vaisnavas, and the

prasada of the brahmanas and Vaisnavas is offered to the general populace.

This kind of sacrifice -- chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra and distribution

of prasada -- is the most perfect and bona fide way of offering sacrifice

for the pleasure of Yajna, or Visnu.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 7.14.17

 

 

Your humble servant,

Hari-sauri dasa