offering food to Krsna

[AncientMariner]

 

I am certainly no example. I am caught up in a sort of neutral zone. I chant Sri Vishnu Sri Vishnu Sri Vishnu before eating....usually. Sometimes I just stuff my mouth like an animal and then remember Krishna sometime in the process.

 

On occasion I will make an effort to chant mindfully remembering and acknowledging my complete dependence on the Supreme Lord and my appreciation for His kindness in maintaining me. There is no devotion in what I do. There is some slight remeberance to work on and deepen. Santa rasa appeals to me more in that I can experience liberation from samsara which is my #1 concern at this time. Perhaps if I can get stablized on that platform at some distant time I will get some attraction for service.

 

 

I do vaguely remember some Prabhupada quote where he said something to the effect it is good to chow down so to speak. Can't remember it exactly but I got the sense once the prasada is prepared and properly offered its time to chow down but then some of the rules and regulations in the Vedas seem to suggest otherwise.

[theist]

 

I do vaguely remember some Prabhupada quote where he said something to the effect it is good to chow down so to speak. Can't remember it exactly but I got the sense once the prasada is prepared and properly offered its time to chow down but then some of the rules and regulations in the Vedas seem to suggest otherwise.

Used to be a common and oft repeated quote of Srila Prabhupada saying "In the begginning one should take prasadam to the point to where he waddles like a duck."

 

False renunciation can creep in just like mundane religiousity. Both have a way of clouding over our vision to our real process which is obtaining and then living in the grace of the Lord.

[bija]

I heard one time ancient, that Srila Prabhuapda would sit at a plate of prasadam...intensely focused. Chewing over and over every morsel. They said it took him a long time to finish a plate.

 

Do you know why?

 

Because he was eating the remnants from God's plate. Experiencing bliss internally!! Bhakti yoga.

 

oh man...if only hey.... (I am much like Theist...as he mentioned above).

 

 

I am certainly no example. I am caught up in a sort of neutral zone. I chant Sri Vishnu Sri Vishnu Sri Vishnu before eating....usually. Sometimes I just stuff my mouth like an animal and then remember Krishna sometime in the process.by theist

But when I do prepare a feast in love...it is nectar. And my non-devotee friends can taste it too. Only if we could become steady...we would be happy.

[bhaktajan]

Çré Caitanya – caritämåta

Madhya 14.17 to 69

Finally Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu said, “Who are you? You have done so much for Me. All of a sudden you have come here and made Me drink the nectar of the pastimes of Lord Kåñëa.”

The King replied, “My Lord, I am the most obedient servant of Your servants. It is my ambition that You will accept me as the servant of Your servants.”

At that time, Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu displayed some of His divine opulences to the King, and He forbade him to disclose this to anyone. Although within His heart Caitanya Mahäprabhu knew everything that was happening, externally He did not disclose it. Nor did He disclose that He knew He was talking with King Pratäparudra.

Seeing the Lord’s special mercy upon King Pratäparudra, the devotees praised the King’s good fortune, and their minds became open and blissful.

Submissively offering prayers to the devotees with folded hands and offering obeisances to Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu, the King went outside.

After this, Väëénätha Räya brought all kinds of prasädam, and Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu accepted lunch with the devotees.

The King also sent a large quantity of prasädam through Särvabhauma Bhaööäcärya, Rämänanda Räya and Väëénätha Räya.

The prasädam sent by the King had been offered at the Balagaëòi festival and included uncooked milk products and fruits. It was all of the finest quality, and there was no end to the variety.

There were curd, fruit juice, coconut, mango, dried coconut, jackfruit, various kinds of bananas and palm-fruit seeds.

There were also oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, almonds, dried fruit, raisins and dates.

There were hundreds of different types of sweetmeats like manoharä-läòu, sweets like amåta-guöikä and various types of condensed milk.

There were also papayas and saravaté, a type of orange, and also crushed squash. There were also regular cream, fried cream and a type of puré made with cream.

There were also the sweets known as hari-vallabha and sweets made of seìoti flowers, karpüra flowers and mälaté flowers. There were pomegranates, sweets made with black pepper, sweets made with fused sugar, and amåti-jilipi.

There were lotus-flower sugar, a kind of bread made from urad dhal, crispy sweetmeats, sugar candy, fried-rice sweets, sesame-seed sweets and cookies made from sesame seeds.

There were sugar-candy sweetmeats formed into the shape of orange, lemon and mango trees and arranged with fruits, flowers and leaves.

There were yogurt, milk, butter, buttermilk, fruit juice, a preparation made of fried yogurt and sugar candy, and salty mung-dhal sprouts with shredded ginger.

There were also various types of pickles—lemon pickle, berry pickle and so on. Indeed, I am not able to describe the variety of food offered to Lord Jagannätha.

When Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu saw half the garden filled with a variety of prasädam, He was very satisfied.

Indeed, Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu was fully satisfied just to see how Lord Jagannätha accepted all the food.

There then arrived five or seven loads of plates made of the leaves of the ketaké tree. Each man was supplied ten of these plates, and in this way the leaf dishes were distributed.

Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu understood the labor of all the kértana chanters; therefore He was very eager to feed them sumptuously.

All the devotees sat down in lines, and Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu personally began to distribute the prasädam.

But the devotees would not accept the prasädam until Caitanya Mahäprabhu took it. Svarüpa Gosvämé informed the Lord of this.

Svarüpa Dämodara said, “My Lord, please sit down. No one will eat until You do.”

At that time, Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu sat down with His personal associates and had every one of them fed very sumptuously until they were filled to the necks.

After finishing, the Lord washed His mouth and sat down. There was so much extra prasädam that it was distributed to thousands.

Following the orders of Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu, Govinda, His personal servant, called for all the poor beggars, who were unhappy due to their poverty, and fed them sumptuously.

Observing the beggars eating prasädam, Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu chanted, “Haribol!” and instructed them to chant the holy name.

As soon as the beggars chanted the holy name, “Haribol,” they were immediately absorbed in ecstatic love of Godhead. In this way Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu performed wonderful pastimes.

Outside the garden, when it was time to pull Jagannätha’s car, all the workers called gauòas tried to pull it, but it would not move forward.

When the gauòas saw that they could not budge the car, they abandoned the attempt. Then the King arrived in great anxiety, and he was accompanied by his officers and friends.

The King then arranged for big wrestlers to try to pull the car, and even the King himself joined in, but the car could not be moved.

Becoming even more anxious to move the car, the King had very strong elephants brought forth and harnessed to it.

The strong elephants pulled with all their strength, but still the car remained at a standstill, not budging an inch.

As soon as Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu heard this news, He went there with all His personal associates. They then stood there and watched the elephants try to pull the car.

The elephants, being beaten by the elephant-goad, were crying, but still the car would not move. The assembled people cried out, “Alas!”

At that time, Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu let all the elephants go free and placed the car’s ropes in the hands of His own men.

Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu then went to the back of the car and began to push with His head. It was then that the car began to move and roll along, making a rattling sound.

Indeed, the car began to move automatically, and the devotees simply carried the ropes in their hands. Since it was moving effortlessly, they did not need to pull it.

When the car moved forward, everyone began to chant with great pleasure, “All glories! All glories!” and “All glories to Lord Jagannätha!” No one could hear anything else.

In a moment the car reached the door of the Guëòicä temple. Upon seeing the uncommon strength of Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu, all the people were struck with wonder.

The crowd made a tumultuous vibration, chanting “Jaya Gauracandra! Jaya Çré Kåñëa Caitanya!” Then the people began to chant, “Wonderful! Wonderful!”

Seeing the greatness of Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu, Pratäparudra Mahäräja and his ministers and friends were so moved by ecstatic love that the hair on their bodies stood on end.

All the servants of Lord Jagannätha then took Him down from the car, and the Lord went to sit on His throne.

Subhadrä and Balaräma also sat on their respective thrones. There followed the bathing of Lord Jagannätha and finally the offering of food.

While Lord Jagannätha, Lord Balaräma and Subhadrä sat on their respective thrones, Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu and His devotees began to perform saìkértana with great pleasure, chanting and dancing in the yard of the temple.

While Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu was chanting and dancing, He was overwhelmed with ecstatic love, and all the people who saw Him were also flooded in the ocean of love of Godhead.

In the evening, after finishing His dancing in the yard of the Guëòicä temple, the Lord observed the ärati ceremony. Thereafter He went to a place called Aiöoöä and took rest for the night.

For nine days, nine chief devotees, headed by Advaita Äcärya, got an opportunity to invite the Lord to their homes.

During the four months of the rainy season, the remaining devotees extended invitations to the Lord for one day each. In this way they shared invitations.

For the four-month period, all the daily invitations were shared among the important devotees. The rest of the devotees did not get an opportunity to extend an invitation to the Lord.

Since they could not get one day each, two or three devotees combined to extend an invitation. These are the pastimes of Lord Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu’s acceptance of invitations.

[theist]

There is that line in that prayer, "...and let us take this bhagavata prasadam to our full satisfaction and IN SO DOING glorify Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha and Krishna, and in love..."

 

So I think this means that Krishna takes pleasure from seeing His devotees taking pleasure and since the devotee wants to plese Krishna he must make sure to enjoy the Lord's mercy to his full satisfaction in order not to cheat Their Lordships.

 

Devotees are amazing. Even at the precise moment of experiencing pleasure themselves they are offering their experience of pleasure to Krishna for His pleasure.

 

Pure devotional service can never be faked or arrived at by some juggelry in the mind.