Standard of Vairagis - Honouring food

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prabhu kahe—sannyasira bhaksya nahe upakarana

iha khaile kaiche haya indriya varana

SYNONYMS

prabhu kahe—the Lord said; sannyasira—by a sannyasi; bhaksya—to be eaten;

nahe—this is not; upakarana—varieties of food; iha—this; khaile—if eating;

kaiche—how; haya—there is; indriya—senses; varana—controlling.

TRANSLATION

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, “It is not proper for a sannyasi to eat such a

variety of foods. If he does, how can he control his senses?”

PURPORT

The word upakarana indicates a variety of foods, such as dhal, vegetables

and other varieties of possible dishes that one can eat very nicely with

rice. It is not proper, however, for a sannyasi to eat such palatable

dishes. If he did so, he would not be able to control his senses.

 

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu did not encourage sannyasis to eat very palatable

dishes, for the whole Vaisnava cult is vairagya-vidya, as renounced as

possible. Caitanya Mahaprabhu also advised Raghunatha dasa Gosvami not to

eat very palatable dishes, wear very nice garments or talk on mundane

subjects. These things are all prohibited for those in the renounced order.

A devotee does not accept anything to eat that is not first offered to

Krsna.

 

All the rich foods offered to Krsna are given to the grhasthas, the

householders.

 

There are many nice things offered to Krsna—garlands, bedsteads, nice

ornaments, nice food and even nicely prepared pan, betel nuts-but a humble

Vaisnava, thinking his body material and nasty, does not accept such

preparations for himself.

 

He thinks that by accepting such things he will offend the lotus feet of the

Lord. Those who are sahajiyas cannot understand what Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu

meant when He asked Advaita Acarya to bring two separate leaves and give a

small quantity of the prasadam to Him.

Madhya 3.71