Coconuts and Bananas.

[Guest guest]

> Dear Maharaja

> Please accept my humble obeisances.

> All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

> One devotee here was explaining that the bananas used in the fire yajna

> ceremonies and the coconut used in e.g. the ratha yatra festival for

> removing inauspiciousness can be offered to Caitanya Mahaprabhu and then

> as prasadam, eaten. Is there some explanation for this?

> Your servant

> Gauranga Premananda dasa.

 

Srila Prabhupada used to have us distribute the bananas offered in vaisnava

homa's as prasadam to everyone. Only recently have people been saying not

to eat them as it is containing karmas. That might be some karma khanda

thing being imported into Krishna consciousness. BG states that remnants of

a sacrifice free one from karmas and don't contain karmas. So if a banana

is offered to Visnu how can it contain karma? Those who say this should

support it with sastra references. It seems one of those rumours that

disturb everyone. We offer Lord Visnu, whose mouth is the flame of the fire

sacrifice, grains, fruits and ghee. The ashes are put on our head as a

telok for purifying us (why they don't contain sin?). The fruit offered is

also a prasadam. The sins get burnt up by the sacrifice. Maybe there are

other sacrifices to devatas where this is different. I don't know about

such sacrifices so cannot comment. A Visnu Sacrifice is transcendental and

purifying. So I don't see how can hold. Also Srila Prabhupada never

followed such a thing. I would ask devotees to prove Yajna-asisa from a

Visnu Yajna suddenly contains karmas---where does it say this?

 

Yours in service,

 

Jayapataka Swami