FOOD PRAYER

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FOOD PRAYER

 

 

According to the Bhagavad Geetha, the body and life in it are based

on food and sustained by food. However great and learned a person may

be, however much he pays attention to the teachings of the Vedantha

and takes care to spread them, if he neglects the strict code laid

down for the food, he cannot succeed spiritually. The food we eat is

an important constituent of the physical and mental stuff we have to

struggle with, in the spiritual field. Purity of food leads to purity

of mind.

 

 

We should partake food with a Sathwic mind. Our ancestors

recommended the offering of food to God before partaking. However

impure the food maybe, when it is offered to God, it gets purified

and nourishes us both physically and mentally as Divine prasad and

Grace. Food so partaken becomes prasad (consecrated offering).

 

 

Three types of purities are said to be necessary with regard to

food. These are 1. Pathra Shuddhi (purity of vessels): The vessels

for cooking must be clean and pure. 2. Paka Shuddhi (purity of the

process of cooking): The process of cooking should not bring

impurities. The person who prepares the food and serves must not only

be clean in dress, but clean in habits, character, and conduct. He

should not allow his mind to dwell on wicked or vicious ideas. 3.

Pachaka Shuddhi (Purity of food materials): The provisions used for

cooking has to be pure and of good quality. They should have been

procured by fair means.

 

The absence of any of the above three qualities makes the food

impure. Impure food results in an impure mind. Hence it is necessary

to purify the food before we eat.

 

 

Now it is not possible to ensure the purity of the cooking process,

since we do not know what thoughts rage in the mind of the person who

prepares the food. Similarly we cannot ensure cleanliness of the food

ingredients, as we do not know whether the seller who had sold it to

us acquired the food grains in a righteous way. Hence it is essential

on our part to offer food to God in the form of a prayer, so that

these three impurities do not afflict our mind. When we make the

offering to God, all the three types of pollution are destroyed and

the food is turned into Prasad, which will nourish us physically,

mentally and spiritually.

 

 

Bhagavan Baba says that we should not forget this important

discipline of offering food to God with a prayer. This should be done

even when we eat outside our homes (it may be done mentally if

required).