How to offer food to Krishna?
There is a common misunderstanding that devotees of Krishna are vegetarians. Actually this is not true. Even if one becomes a vegetarian eating vegetarian food is still sinful and will still cause karmic reactions and will still bind the person eating it to take birth in the material world over and over and over again and suffer perpetually. So simply becoming a vegetarian is not very helpful in spiritual life.
in the Bhagavad-gita 3.13 Lord Krishna says:
The devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food which is offered first for sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin.
So we can see unless the food is first ‘offed for sacrifice’ the person who eats that food is only eating sin. And the result of eating sin is that one becomes sinful. Krishna consciousness is only possible for those who are not sinful so Krishna consciousness is not possible for one who eats sin. Therefore even if one is a strict vegetarian it will be completely impossible for him to become Krishna conscious unless he restricts his eating to only food that has been offered to in sacrifice (yajna).
This is a very common reason why aspiring devotees of Lord Krishna fail to become Krishna conscious. They fail because they continue to eat food that is not offered to Krishna. Even though they may become strict vegetarians this does not help them very much, because vegetarian food which is not cooked by a devotee and offered to Krishna with love and devotion is simply sin. So when they eat this vegetarian food that is not prasadam they become sinful. And a sinful person can never become a devotee. Krishna confirms this in Bhagavad-gita 7.28:
Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life, whose sinful actions are completely eradicated and who are freed from the duality of delusion, engage themselves in My service with determination.
Srila Prabhupada states in his purport to this verse: “Those eligible for elevation to the transcendental position are mentioned in this verse. For those who are sinful, atheistic, foolish and deceitful, it is very difficult to transcend the duality of desire and hate. Only those who have passed their lives in practicing the regulative principles of religion, who have acted piously and who have conquered sinful reactions can accept devotional service and gradually rise to the pure knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Then, gradually, they can meditate in trance on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the process of being situated on the spiritual platform. This elevation is possible in Krishna consciousness in the association of pure devotees who can deliver one from delusion.”
So we should understand it very clearly that sinful people can not become Krishna conscious and if one eats food, even if it is vegetarian food, that is not Krishna prasadam, meaning not cooked by a devotee of Krishna and offered to Krishna with love and devotion, he is eating only sin and because of eating sin he will become sinful. And because he is sinful he will not be able to become Krishna conscious.
It is very important to understand this simple scientific fact. If we eat anything which is not Krishna prasadam we are eating only sin and we will become sinful because of this. And we have to know it clearly that for a sinful person it is not possible to become Krishna conscious. So a devotee of Krishna can NEVER eat anything that is not Krishna prasadam.
And another common mistake is to try to offer unofferable things to Krishna and then to try and fool ourselves that these things have now become Krishna prasadam because we offered them to Krishna… Krishna only accepts foods in the mode of goodness. That means foods from the four groups of grains, milk products, vegetables and fruits. And He does not accept things in the mode of passion including garlic and onions. And it is a great offense to offer to Krishna foods that have been cooked by non-devotees. So once something is cooked by a non-devotee it can not be offered to Krishna, if you offer it to Krishna that is offensive and will not be good for you and of course it will not be accepted by Krishna and will not become prasadam…
We have to understand exactly what it is that Krishna accepts when we offer Him some food. It is not that Krishna is hungry and needs us to offer Him some food otherwise he will starve… No. Krishna is complete and full in Himself, He has plenty of food, and anyhow the food that we can offer Him is already His. It is not that we have anything to offer to Krishna, whatever we have already belongs to Krishna. So Krishna is not hungry and He does not need to be fed by us. But Krishna has given us a little independence. He has given us a little free will. We can choose to cook some food for our own pleasure or we can choose to cook some food for Krishna’s pleasure. That is our free will. So if we choose to cook for our own pleasure, to suit our own taste, then we are in maya and whatever we cook, even if it is vegetarian and even if we go through the motions of offering it to Krishna will not be accepted by Krishna and will not become prasadam and will be only sin and we will become sinful by eating it. Why? Because we did not cook it for Krishna. We cooked it for ourselves.
This is a very basic and a very fundamental principle of Krishna consciousness. And it is a point that 99% or more of today’s ‘devotees’ do not understand or follow. A devotee does not do anything for himself. He does everything for Krishna. So when a devotee goes to the market to purchase things he is not purchasing things because he thinks, “that looks nice, I will enjoy eating that…” That thought and consciousness of being the enjoyer is maya, illusion, sinful. We are not the enjoyer, Krishna is the enjoyer, we are meant to be enjoyed by Krishna. We are meant to be servants of Krishna. So when a devotee goes to the market and sees something very nice he is thinking of how he can prepare this nice thing in a very good way and offer it to Krishna and he is thinking of how Krishna will enjoy it.
A devotee does not consider his personal likes and dislikes. He has no concern for that at all. A devotee is only concerned with what Krishna likes and he is only concerned in preparing the food in the way that Krishna likes it. And he does not care. He may not like it himself personally but his pleasure is in seeing Krishna happy. So he purchases the food that Krishna likes and prepares it in the way that Krishna likes it and he offers it to Krishna with love and devotion and Krishna accepts this love and devotion with which the devotee prepares and offers the food to Him. Krishna does not need the actual food, but He does taste it because Krishna is attracted by the love and devotion His devotee has put into the food while preparing and offering it to Krishna. So Krishna accepts the love and devotion of the devotee who has prepared this offering for Him. That is what Krishna accepts. So if there is no love and devotion Krishna is not interested, He has no need for the food, and He is not interested in something that some person has prepared to satisfy his own personal sense of taste.
Therefore it is a very great offense to think of enjoying the food before it is offered to Krishna. Because we are preparing the food for Krishna therefore Krishna should be the first person to taste and enjoy it. We can not even think of enjoying the food in our minds or that will spoil the offering. That is the reason that it is forbidden to taste any food before it is offered to Krishna. If anyone tastes the food then the offering is spoiled and it is can not be offered to Krishna.
It is amazing that so many devotees have forgotten or never understood these essential basic fundamental principles of cooking for Krishna. Without very sincerely following these basic principles no one can become Krishna conscious. It is impossible to eat sin without becoming sinful and it is impossible to become Krishna conscious if we are sinful.
So if anyone wants to become a devotee of Krishna he must make this very serious vow that he will only eat Krishna prasadam, foods cooked by devotees and offered with love and devotion to Krishna. We can not eat anything that is not real Krishna prasadam and expect that we will be able to become devotees of Krishna.
Of course we have to learn how to cook for Krishna. The standards for cooking for Krishna are quite high. One has to be exceptionally clean. One has to have taken a bath before he cooks for Krishna and has to be wearing clean clothes. And the kitchen has to be very clean. There is an English saying: “Cleanliness is next to Godliness” and that is very true. We can not offer something to Krishna that was prepared in a dirty kitchen. And there are some important principles and one of these is we have to keep separate “Krishna’s pots” and our own personal eating plates and spoons and cups, etc. We can not use anything in preparing food for Krishna except Krishna’s things. So that means we can not use Krishna’s cooking things for ourselves. So if we are using a pot to cook for Krishna in we can not eat out of that pot ourselves for example. If we are using a spoon for mixing Krishna’s food in the cooking pot we can not later use that same spoon to eat from ourselves. We have to keep Krishna’s things and our eating things separate.
We have to be thinking of Krishna while we cook. It is not that we can be thinking of some material subject matter and at the same time be cooking for Krishna. A very good way to keep our minds on Krishna is to listen to Srila Prabhupada giving a class while we are cooking for Krishna. While we are cooking our hands are busy but our ears are free. So while we are cooking for Krishna is the perfect opportunity to hear from Srila Prabhupada and this will keep our mind on Krishna and stop it from wandering onto material subject matters.
When we have finished cooking for Krishna we have to arrange the food nicely on a plate that we will offer to Krishna. And that plate has to be Krishna’s plate and it can not be used for any other purpose except for offering food to Krishna. And if we have made some drink we can put that in a glass or we can offer a glass of water with Krishna’s meal.
Now a very important understanding for the actual offering is that really we are not offering anything to Krishna directly. We are actually cooking for Srila Prabhupada and we will offer the food to Srila Prabhupada. Because Srila Prabhupada is a pure devotee of Krishna and it is Prabhupada who has come here to the material world to save us and it is Prabhupada who is accepting our service on behalf of Krishna. That is what the spiritual master does. He accepts the service of the disciples on behalf of Krishna. So we cook for Srila Prabhupada and offer to Srila Prabhupada and then Prabhupada will take our offering and offer it to his spiritual master and in this way the offering will go to Krishna through the disciplic succession.
So we will place the plate with the food and the glass of water in front of a photo of Srila Prabhupada and offer it to him.
There are mantras to chant while offering ‘bhoga’ to Krishna. But the mantras are useless if the offering has not been cooked by a devotee with love and devotion. This love and devotion and actually cooking the offering for Krishna, not for ourselves, is the real essential element of the offering. If we have not put any love and devotion to Krishna into the offering then there is nothing for Krishna to accept and He will not accept because there is nothing for Him to accept…
You can offer to Krishna by chanting Srila Prabhupada’s two pranam mantras then the Panca-tattva Maha Mantra, then the Hare Krishna maha mantra all three times each. It is essential to always chant Srila Prabhupada’s pranam mantras first because it is only through the mercy of Srila Prabhupada that we have any access to Krishna, then it is also essential to always chant the Panca-Tattva maha mantra before chanting the Hare Krishna maha mantra because it is only by the mercy of Lord Caitanya that we have any access to Krishna. There are also two other mantras that we chant when offering prasadam. So it is five mantras in total and we chant each mantra three times. It only takes a few minutes so we should take the time to chant these mantras.
Prasadam Offering Mantras
Srila Prabhupada’s Pranam Mantras:
nama om visnu-padaya krsna presthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svami iti namine
namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine
nirvisesa-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine
Lord Caitanya’s Pranam Mantra:
namo maha-vadanyaya krsna-prema-pradaya te
krsnaya krsna-caitanya-namne gaura-tvise namah
Krishna’s Pranam Mantra:
namo brahmanya-devaya go-brahmana-hitaya ca
jagad-dhitaya krsnaya govindaya namo namah
Panca-Tattva Maha Mantra:
sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu nityananda
sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda
Hare Krishna Maha Mantra:
Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
So they are the five mantras and we should chant them all three times each. Then if one is brahman initiated he chants the first gayatri mantra ten times on his brahmin thread.
The process in the temple or at home with your home alter is that after the Lord is offered food we then offer aroti and kirtan. So after offering there should be aroti and kirtan, then the devotees can honor the Krishna prasadam.
We do not say ‘eat’ Krishna prasadam. Krishna and His prasadam are not different. So we respect or honor Krishna prasadam.
Before honoring the prasadam there is a very short prayer that devotees chant from Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s Gitavali:
1) sarira abidya-jal, jodendriya tahe kal,
jibe phele bisaya-sagore
ta’ra madhye jihva ati, lobhamoy sudurmati
ta’ke jeta kathina somsare
2) krsna baro doyamoy, karibare jihva jay,
swa-prasad-anna dilo bhai
sei annamrta khao, radha-krsna-guna gao,
preme dako caitanya-nitai
“O brothers! This material body is a place of ignorance, and the senses are a network of paths to death. The senses throw the soul into this ocean of material sense enjoyment and, of all the senses, the tongue is most voracious and uncontrollable; it is very difficult to conquer the tongue in this world. O brothers! Lord Krsna is very kind to us and has given us such nice prasada, just to control the tongue. Now let us take this prasada to our full satisfaction and glorify Their Lordships, Sri Sri Radha and Krsna and, in love, call for the help of Lord Caitanya and Prabhu Nityananda.”
It is very good if we can chant this prayer, both the Bengali and English, before honoring Krishna Prasadam. It only takes a couple of minutes and it helps us to remember how merciful Krishna is to us that He has given us this Krishna Prasadam that enables us to control our tongues.
The tongue is the most difficult to control of all the senses. The tongue has two functions: tasting and vibrating. So we can conquer the tongue if we only let it taste Krishna prasadam and only let it vibrate Krishna-katha, talks about Krishna. We should never let the tongue taste anything except Krishna prasadam and never let it vibrate anything except Krishna katha. If we undergo this simple austerity then advancement in Krishna consciousness will be very simple and very rapid for us.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
About the Author
Madhudvisa dasa My first contact with a Hare Krishna was a most merciful Mataji in Oxford Street, London who sold me a "Higher Taste" cook book in 1984 while I was on holidays there. I started seriously reading Srila Prabhupada's books in Australia 1985 and by 1986 Srila Prabhupada had convinced me "Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead" and "we should surrender to Krishna." I joined the Hare Krishnas in Perth, Western Australia in 1986. Since then I have been chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, reading and distributing Srila Prabhupada's books and preaching as much as I can. That's my life and full-time occupation now really. I like it more than anything I've ever experienced before. Srila Prabhupada's books are so amazing... Even after reading them all many times they're still fresh and new. They are truly transcendental! That's it really. Now I'm just hankering to once again see the world chant Hare Krishna, dance and feast and float away in the ecstasy of Lord Caitanya's Sankirtana movement as it did in Srila Prabhupada's physical presence. Let the whole world drown in the ecstatic flood of love of Krishna!
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Hare Krsna,
I have read this letter from His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada,
Letter to: Harer Nama
—
Allston, Mass
28 May, 1968
68-05-28
My Dear Harer Nama,
Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated May 24, 1968, along with the news article published in the Daily Californian, p.9, on Wednesday May 22, 1968. The pictures and the statement are very appropriate and I hope this article will attract the attention of many students.
Actually this Krishna Consciousness movement is the greatest need of the present day situation of the world. It is authorized approved and very old, and practical. It can be accepted by any person in any part of the world; that is already tested. Now each one of us has got a great responsibility to spread this movement as far as possible and that is the greatest service to the suffering humanity. You are a student of psychology, so you can study this movement more clearly than others, and try to spread it to your best capacity.
Regarding your 2 questions: For offering prasadam simply prayers to the Spiritual Master is sufficient. The process is that everything is offered to the Spiritual Master, and the Spiritual Master is supposed to offer the same foodstuff to the Lord. When a thing is offered to the Spiritual Master, he immediately offers to the Lord. That is the system, and as we come by parampara system, it is our duty to go through the right channel—namely, first the Spiritual Master, then Lord Caitanya, and then Krishna. So when we chant prayers, we do this, Bande ham Sri Guru . . . and gradually to the Goswamis, then to Lord Caitanya, and then to Radha Krishna. That is the praying system. But offering the prasadam to present everything before the Spiritual Master whose picture is also in the altar, means that the Spiritual Master will take care of offering the foodstuff to the Lord. Therefore simply by chanting the prayer to the Spiritual Master, everything will be complete.
So according this letter, the instruction is given that we may just say the prayer to the Spiritual Master only and the offering will be passed on to Krsna. May you elaborate on this?
Yes. Actually Krishna does not accept any offering from us directly. We do not and can not offer anything directly to Krishna, as they do in ISKCON.
In ISKCON they offer everything to Krishna directly. But Krishna does not accept such offerings directly.
The only way Krishna will accept offerings from us is if we approach and surrender to and serve and offer to a bona fide pure devotee of Krishna.
Krishna accepts offerings through his pure devotees, not directly.
So we have to offer everything to Prabhupada, Prabhupada then offers it to his spiritual master and in this way the offering goes to Krishna, through the disciplic succession.
ISKCON have circumvented this whole process of the disciplic succession, they go directly to Krishna, but unfortunately Krishna does not accept these direct offerings ISKCON tries to make.
Because ISKCON have eliminated Prabhupada from the offering, they do not offer to him at all, they offer to Krishna, then they offer Prabhupada “Krishna Prasadam”…
They have destroyed the whole process of offering.
Offering must be to Prabhupada. He will offer to Krishna through the disciplic succession. We do not offer anything directly to Krishna, we offer everything to Prabhupada.
Hare Krishna Prabhu,
Please accept my humble obeisances,
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Prabhu, when I asked my mother to cook food for Krishna, she started saying you are Krishna and atma and Paramatma is same and all nonsense. My father is also a stern Mayavadi although he chants the name Rama Krishna Hari sometimes but he is misled by this Mayavada theory.
I am feeling very poisoned Prabhu.
Should I offer the food my mother makes or should I cook it myself? I know my mother will not let me cook all the food..
Thank you very much Prabhu and please kindly forgive me for any offenses.
Yes. You have to cook yourself and offer to Srila Prabhupada.
Mayavadis obviously can’t offer to Krishna…
Thank you.
Can you elaborate why it is important to cook all items in Ghee instead of oils which is a common practice in today’s iskcon Temples.??
The Temple cooks seem to prefer to fry and cook all items with oils
Hare Krishna
It is because Krishna likes butter. So we cook things in ghee [butter] for Krishna. That is what devotees do.
Hare Krishna prabhuji.
Your website is a lifeline for me. I don’t have the words to express the gratitude for the service you are doing to Sirla Prabhupada and Krishna by explaining subtle points of Krishna Consciousness to fallen souls like me. You have brought me closer to Sirla Prabhupada by making me understand that he is very much still living in his books, audios and videos. And from Krishna Store I got all Sirla Prabhupada’s books and the paraphernalia required to set up a temple of Krishna at my home.
I am a young mother of two boys, one 2 years and other 10 months old. I was deserted by my husband when my second son was born. Throughout my short arranged marriage, I was continually tortured and harassed for dowry. Now me and my two kids are living with my parents.
I want to make my sons Krishna conscious. This is my only aim in life. By Krishna’s grace, my parents are very supportive of my Krishna consciousness process.
Since last six months, I have made this article my life and soul and am applying it practically in my life. I don’t eat anything before offering it to Sirla Prabhupada and Krishna and by Krishna’s grace I know cooking quite well too.
Prabhuji I am facing a problem which is becoming a hindrance for progression of my Krishna consciousness. I have had ups and downs throughout my life and during every low time I resorted to food to prevent myself from slipping into depression. Please don’t get me wrong. I have been strictly chanting 16 rounds of Hare Krishna mahamantra since last 3 to 4 years, even during the turbulent years of my short marriage. I follow the four regulative principles and since last six months I am reading Sirla Prabhupada’s books about an hour every day and also offering Mangala aarti and Sandhya aarti at my home temple. But I am unable to control my sense of taste. I like eating tasty food and I know how to cook it also. Although now I offer it first to Sirla Prabhupada in my home temple, I eat too much. And though prepared with love and devotion, while preparing I cannot stop my mind from thinking of enjoying the offerings, even before the food has been offered. I know this spoils the offerings. Prabhu I want to be moderate in my habit of eating and want to stop my dependence on food. This is the only stumbling block in my path of Krishna Consciousness. And I know very clearly that without becoming a pure devotee of Krishna I cannot make my young sons, and hopefully my parents too devotees.
I want to reduce weight too, and solution to that would also be to control my eating. Prabhuji how can I control my mind from always hankering after eating?
Your servant
Manika
Hare Krishna Mataji
Yes. Sense control is difficult. Main points are it starts with controlling the tongue. So controlling the tongue means two things. Tongue should only be allowed to taste Krishna prasadam and tongue should only vibrate the Hare Krishna mantra and glorification of Krishna. Means we also have to stop the tongue talking about mundane things. So Krishna consciousness is a package, only accepting Krishna prasadam is part of the package, but also we need to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day.
So you can add more elements. You are already cooking and offering to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and that is wonderful. And very important part of making your family Krishna conscious. You can feed them with Krishna prasadam, after you have fed Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. So if you think like that when you are preparing the bhoga, that you are making it very nicely for offering to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and then you want to distribute the prasadam to your family and friends, then gradually you will become less interested in actually eating it yourself and you will be feeling more and more satisfied when you distribute the prasadam to your family and others.
Because this distribution of prasadam, prasadam is not different from Krishna, so when the people are accepting Krishna prasadam, they are directly and personally associating with Krishna, it is very good for their spiritual advancement.
So the more you distribute the prasadam you will feel satisfaction and pleasure from within, even without eating it.
It is not bad to accept prasadam but as devotees we should not overeat. But main thing is not to accept anything except prasadam.
The answer is to become more absorbed in Krishna consciousness, increase the other things, reading Prabhupada’s books, chanting Hare Krishna, etc. We need to become totally absorbed in Krishna consciousness. And that is the answer actually to all our problems. And all the details, how to do this, Prabhupada is explaining everything to us in his books, so we need to read his books also.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna prabhuji
Thank you so much for taking out time to answer my question with such a thoughtful reply. I will endeavor to apply your instructions practically in my life.
Your humble servant
Manika
what about our Guru. We learn that one must asked Guru permission for making the offering. Then the devotee offers the bhoga to Krishna on behalf of his Guru. After Krishna is finish eating then Mahaprasadam is offered to his associates, then Srila Prabhupada and then your Guru. No mention is made to chant Pancha Tattva and Mahamantra. Can you give sastra evidence to this
Your servant
This is rubbish ISKCON nonsense. We don’t offer anything to Krishna, that is not the way. We offer to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Prabhupada offers it to Srila Bhaktsiddhanta, his spiritual master, and in this way the offering goes to Krishna, through the disciplic succession.
This is the way Krishna accepts offerings, through the disciplic succession. Krishna does not accept any offering directly from us.
So because of this ISKOCN no longer has Krishna prasadam. They have become so puffed-up, thinking I will offer directly to Krishna and completely cut out the disciplic succession. Krishna does not accept such offerings. It remains bhoga.
Please accept my humble obeisances Prabhu.
How do we check if the food tastes fine (enough salt, etc) if we are not supposed to taste before offering to Srila Prabhupada and not supposed to modify after offering? Especially when we arrange on a large scale and don’t want everyone to get a bad impression.
Yours humbly.
You follow the recipe. If you have a good recipe it will tase perfectly good when you offer it to Krishna.
The point is you are cooking for Krishna, it is Krishna who should taste it first, not you.
So it is a very simple thing. I have never had any problem. Devotees don’t have any problem cooking delicious foods to offer to Krishna.
The point is you can not taste it, Krishna has to taste it first, so you have to learn how to cook delicious offerings to Krishna without tasting them. You know by experience what it will tase like, how much salt and spices to put in, etc, by experience. You don’t need to taste. And if you don’t have the experience follow a good recipe.
Hare Krishna!
Prabhu I have only a photo of prabhupad. Is it enough that I offer bhoga to him or should I have a pancha tattva photo?
Photo of Prabhupada is OK but how difficult is it to get a Panca-Tattva picture also? Get a Panca-Tattva picture also…
Hare Krishna, Sir
I have a few little questions about preparing prasadam.
– Prabhupada says we should not mix milk with salt. Does this count for cream too? I used to make a white sauce with the vegetables (béchamel), which is based on milk. Can I eat this sauce with salted vegetables, potatoes, etc…? I stopped doing it.
– If I want to prepare pancakes for a whole family, how would I offer them practically? Because I may be baking pancakes for about an hour and if I have to wait for them all to be ready before offering, they get cold. Can I offer the first pancake and then bake more? Or should I offer small stacks of pancakes every few bakings?
– If I make dessert, and use some brown sugar as a topping from a container, is the rest of the sugar in the container also prasadam, so people can add sugar to their dessert at will? If so, can we offer more sugar from the container at a later date, since we can’t offer foodstuffs twice?
– When I cook cabbage, but keep aside a few tougher, dirtier outer leaves, to give to some local cows later, is it also prasadam? Or when I put fruit peelings etc. in the compost bin, do the insects get prasadam?
Thank you for all the help this site offers. I have been chanting 16 rounds since March due to your motivation.
Hare Krishna.
Very good to hear you are chanting Hare Krishna and have got some inspiration from this website also.
Your questions also show you are taking cooking and offering to Prabhupada and Krishna very seriously which is very, very good.
As far as mixing milk with salt it is not done. But you can mix yoghurt with salt. So maybe you can make your white sauce with yoghurt instead of milk, I don’t know if this will work, but we should follow this principle of not mixing milk with salt.
As far as preparing pancakes or anything else that you prepare constantly [like chapatis, etc.] you just make one or two and offer them to Krishna and keep on making and the ones you are making are also prasadam.
If you are cooking and use something from a container in the cooking that container does not become prasadam. So if you are making some desert and adding some sugar to the top then the container of sugar is not prasadam.
When you cook cabbage the tougher outer leaves that you discard are not prasadam, because we only offer Krishna the best things, we can’t really offer Krishna the things that are not the best, so anyhow it is good for the local cows to eat, but they may also eat some of remnants of the left-over prasadam.
Same with fruit peelings, etc, they are not prasadam, but there will be left over prasadam and that should be disposed of in such a way that it will be eaten by the animals, insects, etc, in that way everyone will benefit by taking Krishna prasadam.
When I was living in a house and cooking lots of prasadam if there was left overs I would put them under a tree in the back yard and cats would come and eat and birds would eat, insects would eat, and everything would be gone in a couple of days.
So we should not throw left-over prasadam in the ordinary rubbish but find some way of putting it somewhere where it will be eaten by other living entities. Sometimes devotees put it in a river also.
Thank you very much, Sir. I’ve been following this.
Sometimes I also put some leftover scraps in the compost bin. Something tells me it could be disrespectful, but I was thinking there are so many insects in there who take it so it is alright. Is it offensive?
I also found out muslims aren’t allowed to take nutmeg because they consider it an intoxicant, but I haven’t found the Krishna Conciousness viewpoint on this. Should we avoid nutmeg?
There was a letter concerning sour cream (with rennet in it) where Srila Prabhupada said nothing should be bought from the stores. So where do we draw the line? Can I buy yoghurt, butter and cream in the stores? It has been prepared by non-devotees but it is quite essential.
Prabhupada says that cooking should only be done by initiated brahmins and there are so many rules. But he also says anyone can begin spiritual life by offering foodstuffs to the Lord. So is there a difference in strictness between offering at home as a beginner and cooking for the Deity in the temple? If so, why?
And I’ve been worried about one more thing concerning worship. I have a picture of Srila Prabhupada and Panca-Tattva. But I also have a picture of Radha-Krishna and I was wondering whether this is a bad idea? It is said that beginners shouldn’t worship Radha-Krishna, but is it different when you only have a picture? I’m a bit confused whether a picture counts as Deity or whether it’s a less demanding form.
And since I have the picture in my bedroom and a wall tapestry of Radha-Krishna, do I need to consider the room a temple room avoiding all the offenses of temple worship? It seems impossible.
Thank you for all the time you take to answer these sometimes nonsense questions. But I try to be selective even!
Hare Krishna Prabhu
Prasadam should be respected like Krishna. So it is not a good idea to put it in the bin with rubbish. It is good to put it somewhere where other living entities will get the chance to benefit from it. So your idea is good, but better not to put it in the rubbish. If you have a garden you can put it in the garden and all sorts of animals and insects will come and eat it and that will be very beneficial to them. I had a temple at one stage and sometimes would cook too much prasadam for Sunday feast and would put the extra under a big tree in the back garden and cats and dogs would come and eat it and birds and all sorts of animals and insects would come and it would all be gone in a day or two. So your idea is good but you should not put it in the rubbish.
As far as nutmeg I have never used it in cooking for Krishna. So it is not prohibited but at the same time I have never found a prasadam recipe with nutmeg in it. But it is not prohibited and we don’t care what the Muslims think.
There is a letter about sour cream but there is no letter that says “nothing should be brought from the stores.” Obviously, ideally, we should be completely self-sufficient. We should have land, cows and grains. So we get land, keep cows, milk them and grow grains and vegetables and fruits on the land. That is the ideal situation, and of course that is what Srila Prabhupada recommends. But we are not in that situation and we have to “make the best use of a bad bargain.” So in that case certainly we can purchase the basic necessities from the stores as Srila Prabhupada himself did and all his ISKCON temples did. So the basic things are grains, milk, fruits and vegetables. Now if we can produce them ourselves that is best, but if we can’t then we have to purchase from the stores to offer to Krishna. So yes, certainly Prabhupada, ISKCON temples and I go to the store and purchase milk, yogurt, butter and cream. If you are using yogurt in big quantities for prasadam distribution then it is much cheaper and very easy to make it yourself from milk. But anyhow you can purchase these basic things: grains, milk products, fruits and vegetables, from the stores.
As far as cooking by initiated brahmins that is for the temples. But at home you are the only brahmin there so you have to cook for Krishna at home. The standards in the temple are different from the standards at home but Krishna is the same everywhere and what Krishna likes is the love and devotion that goes into preparing the offering. So we should actually be going shopping for getting nice bhoga that we can use to prepare a very wonderful offering to Krishna and we should be cooking for Krishna actually, making the nice things that Krishna likes for Krishna’s pleasure and satisfaction and then offering these things to Krishna for His enjoyment and then after relishing the Krishna prasadam, the remnants from Krishna’s meal.
As far as having a picture of Krishna, that is not a bad idea, it is a good idea to have a picture of Krishna. There is no problem having a picture of Krishna on your alter. Having an actual Krishna deity is not a good idea unless you can really worship properly, so I would not recommend that any time soon. But picture of Krishna is fine, but there has to be picture of Prabhupada and picture of Panca-Tattva also, as you have it.
The main thing is we are not offering to Krsihna, we are not offering to Lord Caitanya, we are offering to Srila Prabhupada, and Srila Prabhupada will offer to his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisddhanta, and in this way, the offering will go to Krishna through the disciplic succession. We can not directly offer to Krishna. Srila Prabhupada is very merciful and if we try to please him, if we try to serve him, he may well accept our offering, and if Prabhupada accepts our offering, if he is pleased with us, then Krishna will be pleased with us. That is the way.
As far as picture of Krishna in your bedroom you should be respectful of that picture. Better not to sleep with your feet pointing towards that picture of Krishna or do immoral things in front of that picture of Krishna. But otherwise it is very good to have pictures of Krishna and Srila Prabhupada around so you will be always remembering Krishna. That is the idea of Krishna consciousness. Always remember Krishna, never forget Krishna. And having pictures of Krishna around us helps us to remember Krishna so it is good.
We have to be careful not to miss the point, considering all these offenses and in the process forgetting Krishna. Particularly now, in the Kali-yuga, it is very difficult for us to do anything absolutely perfectly, free from all offenses, so Lord Caitanya is very merciful so if during all our activities we are chanting the Panca-Tattva Maha-Mantra and the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra then whatever imperfections are there will be purified by the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha mantra.
So above all the main thing is to be always chanting Hare Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Esteemed Sir,
I have also been wondering, to whom do temples like the Jagannatha Temple offer foodstuffs? Who is the spiritual master?
Can new people interested in Krishna consciousness but not yet following strictly try to offer foodstuffs to Srila Prabhupada or Krishna or is that only offensive?
You will have to ask the priests at Jagannatha Temple their offering process. I do not know. I only know what Prabhupada has taught us.
And realistically we have to be following the instructions of our spiritual master to offer food to him and expect him to accept it. So the thing is to become a devotee, surrender to Srila Prabhupada, follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling, no intoxication] and chant the Hare Krishna mantra at least 16 rounds a day and then when you are following cook nice offerings for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and offer to them and they will accept such an offering from you if it is made with love and devotion. That is the way.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna, Prabhu!
When we offer food to a Self-realized person, who is a pure devotee of Krsna (like Srila Prabhupada), does the food become Prasadam?
Suppose if we meet such a pure devotee in person (which is VERY RARE), and offer food does it become Prasadam?
Sorry, if I misunderstood something.
Not exactly. If you offer food to a self-realized person he will offer it to his spiritual master who will offer it to his spiritual master and in this way the offering will go to Krishna, and he will offer it back to you and you will get Krishna prasadam. So we do not directly offer anything to Krishna, why would Krishna accept anything from us directly? But Srila Prabhupada is a very dear servant of Krishna, a pure devotee of Krishna, so if he offers to Krishna then Krishna will gladly accept the offering. So that is the idea. We offer to Prabhupada and Prabhupada offers to Krishna through the disciplic succession thus it becomes Krishna prasadam. So it is being offered to Krishna and everyone is accepting Krishna prasadam.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Very important words in context to our overall development a means for the liberation.
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Hare Krishna!🙏❤
This was So Blissful..
Prabhuji I want to ask you one thing that
After offering food to krsna..What should we do with that offered food where should we put that after offering it..
After offering food to Krishna it becomes prasadam and you distribute that prasadam to the family members, friends, people in general and you accept it also yourself. That is the point. Prasadam is Krishna’s mercy, it is meant to be distributed to the people.
Hare Krishna! Is there a book that tells how to offer prsadam to Lord Krishna?
There is no need for a book. It is a very simple thing. Read this article.
Hare Krishna Prabhuji !!!!!
Prabhuji I really want to thank you for enlightening Sinful people like us with your words.
Prabhuji I am 22 and work as a Sailor onboard. I came to the movement because by Lord’s Mercy only few months before and I leave in very remote area of India were I have no access to any temple. Just because of YouTUBE ONLY I learned Bhagavad Gita and heard many lectures related to Bhakti and till now only Sravanam (hearing about lord) is my Saviour. I Chant also (not 16 rounds honestly) and on Fingers only ( Mala make people feel around uncomfortable with me ).
As evidently I am not able to offer any food ( except Tulsi leaves and only when I am in home) to Krsna and more I hear and more I read then more Sinful I feel as I am eating daily sinful foods. I am not allowed to cook ( more over I don’t know) at home as well as onboard ( sometimes hearing about lord also becomes scare as we have to work very hard on Ships )
Prabhuji kindly enlighten me how I can save my soul as I have also heard in Spiritual Dictionary there is no word like Victim.
Hare Krishna !!!!
All Glories To Sirla Prabhupad.
Hare Krishna Mohit
Yes. We just have to adjust. Chant Hare Krishna, read Srila Prabhupada’s books, and follow the instructions we find Srila Prabhupada giving us as we read his books. If we are sincere and if we actually surrender to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna then Krishna will give us the intelligence from within our hearts so that we can adjust our lives so it will be easier for us to practice devotional service.
Everything changes, and Krishna is behind everything, so if we really, sincerely, want to dedicate our lives to serving Srila Prabhupada and Krishna then Krishna will help us. But God helps those who help themselves. So study Srila Prabhupada’s books very seriously and chant Hare Krishna mantra at least 16 rounds a day, and Krishna will give you inspiration what to do…
Hare Krishna,
my dear lord,
would like to know how can i get my new icon Krishna be blessed so i can pray to it.
with
Hare Krishna Felix
You do not need to get your Deities ‘blessed’. It is generally not done anyhow, installing personal deities. Krishna will appear in your Deities in reciprocation to the degree to which you surrender to Him and serve Him. Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita that He responds to His devotees in accordance with their surrender to Him. So the most important thing is that you nicely worship your Deities. Get Them set up in a nice place in your house and establish a simple daily deity worship schedule. The important thing about deity worship is it has to be done regularly every day at the same times. So that will be very good. And the most important service is chanting Hare Krishna in front of your deities. So do this, both chanting japa and having kirtan. If you have others there, family members, friends, etc, try to engage them in the kirtans also.
And of course you have to cook anyhow, so cook for your deities, offer everything you cook to them and then distribute that Krishna prasadam to the others there and accept it yourself also.
So in this way establish a nice program to worship your deities and chant Hare Krishna in front of them and They will appear and bless you.
You do not need any other person to come and bless them for you. Krishna is already there, He will make Himself visible to you in accordance to your surrender and service to Him.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa dasa Prabhu.
I just wanted to say thank you for explaining so nicely how to offer food to Krishna. This is everything I desired to know and more..
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Haribol. I hear what you are saying but now it makes me feel like everything that I offer is never accepted. I work full time and the foods I cook are based on the various dishes that the family likes. I have a skin condition and cannot also eat what they have, most of the time everything I prepare is not for Krsna’s taste but for my family. I think most of the time unrealistic for a householder to cook like this all the time. I get it that you need those standards and thoughts when cooking in the temple, but it’s not ideal for me. I guess I should stop offering if I’m only eating sin.
Hare Krishna Amena
Krishna prasadam is very simple. Vegetables, fruits, milk products and grains are nicely prepared and offered to Krishna. Anyone can appreciate these simple foods.
Becoming a devotee means we have to adjust our lives. Of course in the matter of cooking there are practical considerations and things may have to be adjusted a bit. But everyone can appreciate Krishna prasadam.
So just cook for Krishna and distribute the Krishna prasadam to your family.
We want to complicate everything, but it is not complicated, it is very simple, so just do it. Cook for Krishna, offer to Krishna and distribute Krishna prasadam to your family.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Suppose if a friend of me is giving me some food (which is not Prasadam), I don’t take it. And, people are criticizing me for this. Am I doing anything wrong, Prabhu? They say that they are being “kind” to me (well if they are kind, they shouldn’t insist me to eat their food, right?)
Yes. Ignore the people who criticize you for trying to become Krishna conscious. Because there will be so much criticism. This is the material world, full of materialists and “misery loves company”. So if you try to become Krishna conscious you will become happy, you will become free from the miseries of the material world, and the materialists don’t like to see this, they want to drag you back down to the material platform. So just ignore them, except for preaching to them. Do not be fed by them, rather cook for Prabhupada and Krishna yourself and offer the bhoga to Krishna and then distribute the Krishna prasadam to everyone. Feed them prasadam, don’t accept their bhoga.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare krishna
Its a great pleasure to learn so many things here and to clear out so many misunderstanding.. My question is how many times during the day we have to offer food to Srila Prabhupad and Krishna? Second question is do we offer food early in the morning at mangala aarti too?
Hare krishna and thank you in advance
Hare Krishna Sadna
The standard of worship of Krishna in the temples generally can not be completely implemented in our household life. In the temples Krishna is offered food seven times a day. But this is not practical in our household life.
So we need to establish a system of worshiping Krishna in our home that is practical. And we have to maintain that strictly. We set a standard and always maintain that standard without slipping.
Generally in the morning after waking Krishna some sweets are offered. This is mangal-aroti sweets. So you can do that. You can wake the Deities every morning and offer them some sweets. Then you will be preparing breakfast, so prepare it for Krishna and offer it to Krishna and then distribute the Krishna prasadam to the family members. Main offering is Bhoga-aroti which is done at lunch time in the temples, but if you are working you are not home at lunch time so you can offer Bhoga in the evening, this way some adjustments are necessary for home worship.
So set up a standard of Deity worship that is practical for you and always maintain that standard.
The main thing is Kirtan. Kirtan is most important. So have as much Hare Krishna kirtan as possible together will all your family members in front of the Deities and that will be very good for you and your family. And you can also invite all your friends and extended family members to join in the kirtans and festivals that you can celebrate in your home.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Thank you very very much prabhuji…that was very helpful…hare krishna and keep enlightening us __/\__
Hare krishna prabhuji
plz explain ?Do i need to leave my my studies and do krishna bhakti..if yes then it means im not following krshna path as in gita he said” karm karna jaruri hai”???
what should i do
harekrishna
No. You can remain in your current position in life and simply add Krishna consciousness. Strictly follow the four regulative principles, chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. Then you will begin on the path to Krishna consciousness. You do not have to change your job, etc. Just add Krishna consciousness to your life and everything will be adjusted perfectly by Krishna’s arrangement.
Hare Krishna
How do I purify the dishes and utensils used for cooking and taking meat?I want to cook for Krishna and Srila Prabhupada but right now I dont have the money to buy new utensils.I dont want to honor anything other than prasadam anymore.
In 7/1/77 conversation,Srila Prabhupada says no more sannyasis.So should the sannyasa ashram be disbanded in Iskcon or has there been sannyasa initiation by Srila Prabhupada after that?
Certainly ISKCON should have followed Srila Prabhupada’s order ‘no more sannyasis’. But they didn’t of course. They don’t follow any of Prabhupada’s orders unfortunatly.
Sannyasi is only OK if the person is actually qualified to be a sannyasi. Otherwise it is a fas.
As far as utensils stainless steel can be purified. Just means properly cleaned. Stainless steel you can use the steel scourers and detergent and everything and later with cow dung also.
hare krishna
my question is: how will we know when it is time to offer prasadam to the next spiritual master in the line of succession? and how will we know who it is we should offer it to?
Offer to Srila Prabhupada… Next spiritual master in the disciplic succession will be self-effulgent. Vaisnava acharya rises like the sun. So when the sun rises you will see it. So when the next spiritual master in the disciplic succession is preaching you will see him for sure. You will not be able to miss him…
But I will not be running off to get initiated by him, because I am already initiated by and surrendered to Srila Prabhupada. So I will always offer to Srila Prabhupada. For the time being there is no other bona fide spiritual master except Srila Prabhupada. So just offer to Srila Prabhupada. Chant Hare Krishna, read Srila Prabhupada’s books….
Hare Kṛṣṇa !
Are there any clear recordings of these prayers, or would you consider making them, so we can hear exactly how to sing/pronounce them? It would be a great help.
Yes. It is a good idea… If you listen to Srila Prabhupada’s audio recordings you will hear him chanting so many mantras, many of these mantras also, so I think that is the best way to learn how to pronounce them. Hear Prabhupada pronouncing them…
Hare Krishna,
Prabhuji the article written above is wonderfully written in total Krshna Consciousness as to how a devotee should cook food, offer food and eat food in Krshna Consciousness to avoid sin and for it to be accepted by the supreme personality of Godhead.
Prabhu, my question is that I am trying to become a Krishna Conscious person and pure devotee, however, I am employed in an MNC company, where I do not have a fixed shift timing, sometimes I work during the day and sometime at night. I have to depend a lot on other people for the food. The food is often prepared by unkown cooks in the office or outside office. I have not learnt how to cook food.
At home the food is prepared by my wife, though she is a vegetarian, however, she is not very much inclined towards Krshna Consiousness. She likes onion and garlic paste to include in food cooked for me and herself.
My wife works as a teacher in the morning and takes tutions in the evening to make both ends meet. She has cook food fast in the the time that remains and get on completing other household chores.
Prabhuji, in a scenerio like this either I will start learning how to cook for myself or the family in the given time and be Krshna Conscious while preparing food, offering and eating it too as my wife would not have the time and patients that it takes to being Krshna Conscious.
Prabhuji, please let me understand in this situation can I ever save myself from comitting sin of not preparing and offering proper acceptable food for the Lord and then eat it too?
Please share light on this and remove my ignorance and the sins I committed in the past in terms of food eaten in the past in ignorance. Also, my colleagues make fun of me by saying I overpretent suggest me to take either take sanyaas or eat whatever is supplied.
Regards,
Mukesh Joshi
Hare Krishna Mukesh
We just have to organize it so we can accept Krishna prasadam if we want to become Krishna conscious. This is essential for controlling the tongue.
You can chant Hare Krishna with your wife and encourage her to read Prabhupada’s books and talk to her about Krishna and I am sure it will not be very difficult to convince her to cook for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. The Indian ladies understand this is what they should be doing at a subconscious level at least. Of course now they have become modern and this Krishna consciousness is somewhat covered. But it is not very difficult for your wife to uncover her original Krishna consciousness. And she will be very happy for that.
So then she can cook and you can offer to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna then both you and your wife and family can enjoy Krishna prasadam and she can pack a tiffen and you can take it to work and have prasadam at work as well…
Also you can learn how to cook. It is a very simple thing.
So we just have to arrange some way that we can get Krishna prasadam as this is such an essential part of becoming Krishna conscious.
well I don’t really know how to cook, and I don’t have a devotee to cook for me. well I guess I should not even bother offering food now to Krishna now since you say its Offensive. even though its vegetarian. I guess bhakti is not possible in this modern world on the go and since I can not live in a temple . Thanks allot Madhudvisa dasa for showing me I should give up bhakti.
Hare Krishna Druva
Devotees are all good cooks. So if you become a devotee naturally you will be a good cook. Because you have to cook something nice to offer to Krishna. Cooking is very simple. You just get the recipe and follow it. So just do it. Cook something nice for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and offer it and then you have prasadam.
Only lazy people can’t cook and lazy people can’t become Krishna consciousness.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare krishna prabhu ji
Please accept my obiencese.
I want to eat prasadam. Earlier I was cooking for him when my devotee bro was with me but due to job relocation he left. After that my bad luck started in form of I was not eating prasadam. I feel m eating sin and getting sinful day by day. I dont want to leave krishna but my consciouness is polluted.
I have no tulsi leaves, no pots for him but still want to offer him and want prasadam.
Please help me out of this sinful activities.
Hare Krishna Nishant
Yes. We need to only accept prasadam otherwise we will not be able to control our senses and will not be able to become Krishna conscious.
So you can cook, but better to cook for Srila Prabhupada, cooking for Krishna directly is not the way. We offer to spiritual master and spiritual master offers to Krishna through the disciplic succession. So get photos of Srila Prabhupada, Panca-tattva, Krishna, etc. And just cook nice offerings for Srila Prabhupada.
Tulsi, Krishna likes very much, so if you have it is good, but it is not necessary. Krishna will accept any offering, even very simple, if it is offered with love and devotion.
So just do the best you can. Make nice offerings from fruits, vegetables, grains and milk products and offer to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and you will have prasadam and your consciousness will improve and you will feel much better.
So do your best with what you have. And gradually Krishna will make the arrangements so you can improve the standards.
Hare Krishna!
Both my wife and I are doing 16 rounds daily. My wife also offers prasada and the prasada is just transcendental!! She asked me whether she could cook food for Krishna (prasada) during her menstruation….I have really no idea. Is it not allowed to do so?
What do you say???
AGTSP
Hare Krishna Satish
It really doesn’t matter what I say. My opinion has no value. We need to understand things through the guru-parampara, the disciplic succession. So we need to find out what Srila Prabhupada says about this. So please read the following letter from Srila Prabhupada and I think you will understand it:
Letter to: Amsu:
—
Vrindaban
13 August, 1974
74-08-13
Toronto
My Dear Amsu das:
Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated July 23, 1974 and have noted the contents. Regarding the worship of our Gaura Nitai by women pujaris, we worship Lord Caitanya in His householder life when He was with His wife, and not as a sannyasi. So, it is alright for women to do this service. But, besides this, service is spiritual and there can be no material designation. In Bhagavad-gita it is stated by Lord Krishna: striyo vaisyas tatha sudras te’pi yanti param gatim. The principle is that everyone who is properly initiated and following the rules and regulations can worship. This activity can not on the material platform.
According to the smarta vidhi, women cannot touch deity during menstrual period but the goswami viddhi allows. But it is better not to do it. One thing is that the seva can never be stopped for any reason. This also for the cooking.
I hope this meets you in good health.
Your ever well wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
ACBS/bs/ps
So the main point is service can not be stopped for any reason. So the cooking and the offering has to go on, better if woman does not do it during her menstruation period and the smartas do not allow this, but we are not smartas so for us it is not prohibited. The point is the service must go on. So if there is no one else who can cook for Krishna then she can cook for Krishna…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna: I like to read more on Offering Food To Lord Krishna. I don’t understand that if one makes a special plate which is to Krshna, then what happens to that plate of food that is for Krshna. Do we integrate it into our rest of the food. THE NEXT QUESTION IS: Reading that newsletter, what happens if we are at family function and they are NOT devotees AND ALSO, what happens also if we are in a restarant when travelling.
I have eaten out many times but always make sure its vegetarian food AND ALWAYS I say my Grace before eating anything.
So eating at family homes who are not devotees and eating in restarnats if travellling or having to, does that make us NOT a Devotee ourselfs when I am trying my best to become a Lord Krshna Devotee.
Please email me at my email address as I can NOT do facebook nor anything other sites.
Jai Sri Krshna Jai. “Bhaktin Marcy”
Hare Krishna Bhaktin Marcy
Yes. After offering to Krishna what is generally done is the prasadam from Krishna’s plates is put back in the pots and Krishna’s plates are washed then the prasadam can be distributed.
As far as eating food cooked by non-devotees devotees do not do it on principle. So we have to adjust our lives so that we only ever accept Krishna Prasadam. That is a very important part of becoming Krishna conscious. We have to control our tongues and the only way we can control our tongue is by restricting it to only tasting Krishna prasadam and only vibrating Krishna katha. So if we are going to become devotees we have to control our tongues in these two ways.
Of course if we are traveling and for some reason it is impossible to get prasadam and we need to eat something to get strength to preach then we may have to take some vegetarian food, etc. But this should be avoided on principle. Not that we get into the habit of accepting food that is not Krishna prasadam.
Western people who have become Krishna followers always put forth a very agressive almost negative tone about rules in the relationship with Krishna.
Hare Krishna Vic
I don’t understand what you mean? There is no aggression. It is a statement of fact. It is impossible to make spiritual advancement unless we are prepared to reduce our attachment to the material world and material sense gratification. The two things are opposites. If we are attached to material sense gratification [illicit sex, meat eating, gambling and intoxication] that will block our progress in spiritual life. So the only way to advance in spiritual life is to surrender to these basic rules: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication and surrender to chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day. That is the beginning of spiritual life. If we are not prepared to at least surrender to these basic rules then our spiritual life will not being.
So if you do not want to follow these rules that is OK. We are not trying to force you. Krishna consciousness can only be practiced on the basis of love. You have to voluntarily agree to follow these principles. It is up to you. All we can do is provide the knowledge. It is up to you to accept it or reject it.
But unless you accept at least these basic principles you will not be able to advance spiritually and you will stuck in the material world eternally suffering forever.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Thank you for your reply. Yes, I agree about the what it takes in term of basics for the spiritual path.
You say that “So simply becoming a vegetarian is not very helpful in spiritual life.” Perhaps not. But for some people finding Krishna starts with simple things like just stop eating meat.
Thank you for a great site.
I have been going thro’ the messages for last few months. Those are really effective, but some times you might be talking in such way that the impression goes as we can’t be a devotee unless we leave every thing to become a full time devotee. (Krishna conscious)
This may not be possible for many & in such case people may not really try to get into it. We may not become Krishna conscious immediately but try to slowly get into.
Even if I may like to adopt it, I may have some earthly compulsion & responsibilities which I can’t just forego . But still I can worship Krishna & have faith. we need people to get prepared for getting into. But this needs encouragement.
I may be totally wrong but please enlighten….
Hare Krishna Ashis
Yes. You are totally wrong. We have to become full-time devotees.
That does not mean we have to live in the temple.
But the whole point of Krishna consciousness is we have to modify our lives so that we always remember Krishna and we never forget Krishna. That is Krishna consciousness. Remembering and serving Krishna 24 hours a day.
At any moment we can be either in Krishna consciousness or in maya [illusion]. So if we are going to become devotees we have to learn how to become Krishna conscious 24 hours a day.
This is what Srila Prabhupada is teaching us. This is what we have to learn. And if you read Srila Prabhupada’s books you will learn how it is possible to live your life as a ‘full time devotee’ in any situation you may find yourself in.
Krishna consciousness means ‘full time devotee’ as soon as we are not in Krishna consciousness we are not devotees, we are in maya, we are serving maya. So devotee can not serve maya. Devotee is not such a cheap thing.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna,
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
This mail came at the perfect time for me 🙂
From this article I take it that sweets and soda bought from the supermarket can’t be offered?
Thank you.
Hare Krishna Michael
Yes. That is correct. Things prepared by non-devotees can not be offered to Krishna.
We can make so many nice drinks and sweets and offer them to Krishna. But they have to be made by devotees. It is the love and devotion with which the foods are prepared that Krishna accepts actually. It is not that Krishna is hungry and needs us to purchase something from the supermarket to feed Him with… No. Krishna is not hungry like that. But Krishna is very pleased if we, out of love and devotion to Him, prepare some nice food and offer it to Him…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Radhe Krishna sir,
I am an engineering student and am leaving in a hostel. The vegetarian food available in the hostel canteen contains onion and garlic. Could you please suggest me a way out of eating sin?
I was actually offering the food with onion and garlic to Shree Krishna but you opened my eyes.
Hare Krishna Santosh
You can cook something simple yourself and offer it to Krishna. You can get some small pot and burner and cook some rice or something and offer it to Krishna. Krishna does not accept offerings of foods cooked by non-devotees. And devotees only accept Krishna prasadam. So you just have to organize to get the Krishna prasadam because you have to eat something to keep your body and soul together. We have to make adjustments in our life if we seriously want to become Krishna conscious. So adjust your life so you can accept only Krishna prasadam
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
I would request you to send me all bhajans/ kirtans of Prabhu Pada
https://krishnastore.com/prabhupada-ultimate-audio-collection-dvdrom-set-h-krishna-3226.html
Dear Prabhu,
Thanks for the details. Devotees also sing the “mahaprasade govinde” verse. Was this practice started by Prabhupada or during his time or did this come up later? How important is this verse?
Hare Krishna Prabhu
Srila Prabhupada introduced the ‘sarira avidya jal…’ prasadam prayers. That is what I chant. I am not aware that Prabhupada ever introduced this ‘mahaprasada govinde’ verses. I expect it came from the Gaudiya Matha but I really do not know. And I am sure there is nothing wrong with it. It is not a problem really. We have much more important things to do. Like chanting Hare Krishna at least 16 rounds a day.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna,
My name is Vishal and ilive in a hostel,i get my food from tiffin service who puts garlic,onions and all sorts of spices in food.Then how is it possible that I can offer the food to lord Krishna and accept it as Krishna prasadam.
You can not offer that. But you can get some fruit, some water, some flowers and offer that to Krishna. You can prepare so many simple things and offer them to Krishna. We can not offer Krishna anything cooked by non-devotees. But you can make arrangements to collect things yourself that you can offer to Krishna. Even if you don’t have any facility to actually cook.
Hare Krishna Madhudsiva Dasa. I’m confused about what is the correct handling of the food served to Prabhupada/Krishna. Once is served on Krisna’s plate and offered, am I supposed to transfer that food to my plate with separate utensils or better yet transfer Krishna food offerings to the pot where it was prepared and then serve myself food from the pot?
Thank You and be blessed!
Zuleika
Hare Krishna Zuleika
The point is to cook for Krishna, offer it to Krishna and then accept the Krishna prasadam, Krishna’s mercy…
It is not confusing.
Usually in the situation you are in, in a home temple atmosphere, you will offer to Krishna on His plates then when you take the offering off the alter you will just put the things from Krishna’s plates back in the cooking pots then wash Krishna’s plates and then distribute the prasadam…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna!!!
I belong to an orthodox Bengali family which advocates The Divine Mother Kali as the Supreme Reality.As a result, they insist that I eat the meat which is offered as Prasadam.They even object to my worshiping Krishna saying that Krishna is the Manifestation of Kali.Please help and say if this is true and can I eat the meat Prasadam.
No of course Krishna is not the manifestation of Kali. Meat eaters have no ability to understand spiritual life at all. Better to leave them if there is no hope of them becoming Krishna conscious. Of course you can not eat meat if you want to advance in spritual life. Why are you asking such stupid questions?
Hare Krsna Prabhu,
When we offer food to Lord Caitanya along with Tulasi-leaves, what do we do with those leaves after we honour the Prasadam? Should I eat them or place them at the Lotus feet of Lord Caitanya?
Hare Krishna Hrishikesh
You can only offer something once to the Lord. So if you offer the tulsi leaves to Lord Caitanya’s lotus feet that is offering and they will become prasadam. And if you offer them with a meal when He accepts them that will also become prasadam.
So after the tulsi has became prasadam you can accept it. Devotees do not say they ‘eat’ prasadam. We respect prasadam. But yes. You can eat the tulsi leaves after they have been offered to Krishna. But devotees say respect not eat.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna!!!!!
We are a family of Shaktas and my family object to my worshipping Krishna.They advocate The Divine Mother as the Supreme Reality and insist me to eat meat which has been offered to The Divine Mother.I am not allowed to cook food and offer it to Krishna. Please help!!!!!!
You have to help yourself in this situation. Chant Hare Krishna and read Srila Prabhupada’s books and Krishna will give you the intelligence so you can understand what you have to do.
Prabhuji it’s my simple question that they said u have to offer lord krsna with love but I have love but due to getting mix in Maya I lost it pls help me tell me how can I bring this love back to me
There is no secret. You will get the love for Krishna back by chanting Hare Krishna mantra at least 16 rounds a day, strictly following the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. We have to do all these things very seriously. Otherwise how can we expect to develop any love for Krishna? And if we do all these things very seriously and we do actually surrender to the instructions we find Srila Prabhupada giving us when we read his books, then we will reestablish our eternal loving relationship with Krishna for sure. Problem is we don’t want to surrender. So to the degree that we refuse to surrender to Krishna, we will not be able to become Krishna conscious.
After 6 months or more of offering food to Srila Prabhupada I am feeling guilty of the way I am offering. I am a child and my parents under any circumstance don’t let me enter kitchen to cook for Krishna. So what I do is I secretly keep the dry fruits they give me to it in my pocket or in a paper. Later I wash it. She also cuts an apple piece. That also I hide. Later I cut it to pieces, mix it with almonds , grapes, walnuts,etc and offer to Srila Prabhupada. I mix it in the paper(not in a vessel). This also makes the food dirty I think … when the banana touches the paper it would be dirty right?…
If my mother finds a vessel missing she’ll not spare me so I mix in a white unruled new paper everytime.
But now I’m feeling guilty bcoz she when she cuts apple she cuts one piece for herseelf and eats it before I offer the piece given to me. Even sometimes I cut banana but that banana is taken from a bunch from which my parents have eaten already. Although I wash them properly I am doing very wrong right?
Please answer. I really can’t make chapatis…home circumstances are very bad….
Hare Krishna Arun
Yes. It sounds a very difficult situation. But you are doing the best you can and Prabhupada and Krishna know that. So it is good to feel as you are that your offerings are not very good and not up to the standard and you will then always try to improve and Krishna will give you the opportunities to improve the offerings also. So just keep on making the best offerings you can and always try to improve it and soon you will find yourself cooking wonderful feasts for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and you will be distributing the Krishna prasadam to so many others. I know it seems impossible now. But by your sincerity Krishna will adjust everything and it will become possible.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna!!! We are a family of Shaktas and our family insist on eating meat offered to The Divine Mother. What to do?
Refuse to eat it. Just let them know you are a devotee of Krishna and can only eat Krishna prasadam. Cook offerings for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna yourself so you can accept Krsihna prasadam. That is the answer.
If you eat meat that will destroy the subtle elements of your brain that are required to understand spiritual life. So meat eating and advancement in spritual life can not go together. So you can not eat meat and become spiritually advanced. And the only purpose of human life is to advance spiritually. So you can not eat meat. You can only accept Krishna prasadam.
So you just take this solemn vow and follow it no matter how difficult it is.
That is required to become Krishna conscious. We have to practice austerity. It means we have to voluntarily give up things that we may want to do to enable us to advance spiritually. So we have to voluntarily give up meat eating, gambling, illicit sex, and intoxication and we have to chant the Hare Krishna mantra every day at least 16 rounds. This little austerity at least we have to accept. Otherwise there is no hope, no spiritual life.
So you just have to follow these things, there is no alternative. And you CAN follow these things. You just have to be determined to follow them…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
What is a good daily menu? I find it difficult to decide what to cook, doing this every day would be hard. I have “The Hare Krishna Book of Vegetarian Cooking” and “The Higher Taste”.
What is a good breakfast, lunch, and dinner menu? Thank you for the help.
Hare Krishna John
It is not really necessary to eat so much, breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Generally devotees have one main meal a day and ideally that is lunch. Because at lunch time when the sun is high in the sky that is the time when our digestion is working the best. Our fire of digestion comes up and goes down with the sun. So it is not advisable to eat anything substantial before the sun rises or after the sun sets. Because we will not be able to digest it.
In the evening it is traditional to have hot milk and maybe some fruits and nuts. And in the morning something can be there of course. But ideally lunch is the main meal.
It depends on your situation. The standard ISKCON meal as established by Srila Prabhupada is rice,dhal, chapatis and subju. This is practical if you are cooking for a few. Personally I am living by myself at the moment so I am just cooking for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and realistically I do not have much time and if I would cook rice, dhal, chapatis and subju it would come out too much and maybe take a bit long to cook.
So what I do is every day I make kitery and chapatis. Kitery is made with rice and dhal [I use split mung dhal] and I add vegetables also. I cook it in a pressure cooker so it takes me only a little over half an hour to cook kitery and chapatis and I do that every day for lunch. In the mornings I generally offer some porridge (oats, milk and usually I put dates also). And maybe orange juice in the morning. In the evening I offer hot milk. So for me this works.
Of course if you are living with a group of people as a family, etc, you can do more elaborate prasadam. But realistically we only need one main meal a day. And making porridge in the morning is very fast and making hot milk in the evening is very fast. And I feel completely satisfied also and somehow when you offer even simple things to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna they come out very wonderful tasting…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Thank you for the reply. I will start to make Kitchari more often. My stomach also hasn’t been feeling to well lately (crohn’s disease) so this will probably be good.
Yes. We have to only accept Krishna prasadam and not overeat. So much illness and disease is caused by overeating and by eating things with chemicals and artificial things in them.
For offering to Krishna we can not offer anything artificial. Only fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh milk products and grains. We can not offer anything else to Krishna. So even from the mundane point of view if we only accept Krishna prasadam then we will only ever accept fresh fruits and vegetables, milk products and grains and we will never eat anything artificial or anything with chemicals, etc.
But of course Krishna prasadam is totally transcendental and when it is tasted by Krishna it looses its material qualities and becomes completely spiritual. Actually Krishna prasadam is non different from Krishna. So when we taste Krishna prasadam we are directly associating with Krishna. And at least I practically experience this. Sometimes simple prasadam, just made from grains and ghee and vegetables, like the kittery that I offer to Srila Prabhupada every day, sometimes it tastes so wonderful that I wonder how it is possible? Where has this wonderful taste come from? It is amazing. It must be that sometimes Srila Prabhupada and Krishna actually accept it. Otherwise how could it taste so wonderful. That is my personal daily experience. Prasadam is not at all ordinary.
So from the material point of view it is very good, but actually prasadam cures all our material and spiritual ills.
It is essential that we only cook for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and that we never accept anything that is not Krishna prasadam… That will cure both our spiritual and our material diseases.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna ,
My family members do not allow me to cook alone. I know how to cook but the problem is they do not cooperate with me. They dislike anything devotional and says that I am behaving like a old man, I am ruining myself etc…For them devotion means a business deal. Sometimes the situation turns very worse. If I offer some fruits, milk and flowers and chant the rounds will it be good for devotional life or my offences due to eating sinful foods will not allow me to progress in devotion?
I hope the situation turns better in future.
Hare Krishna Hrishikesh
It will be good and if you have to eat the food offered by your family and have no alternative then of course that will have a bad effect on your consciousness, but at the same time you are offering fruit and flowers to Krishna and getting some prasadam like that. Ultimately Krishna will save you and you will be able to cook and offer to Krishna and only accept Krishna prasadam.
But if you are struggling to become Krishna conscious under a difficult situation of course you will make advancement in Krishna consciousness. Prahlada Maharaja had to accept the offerings made by his demonic family. Even when they offered him poison he had to accept it but the poison did not act.
So if we are sincere devotees, even if we are forced to do things that we do not want to do or should not be doing, Krishna will protect us and the poison will not act.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna,
Madhudvisa ji, what is the perfect procedure to offer food to Krishna? Which mantras are to be chanted and when? What are the pronunciations of the mantras and how to offer Bhoga?
Read the article…
The thing is you have to have the consciousness of preparing a very nice meal for Krishna. You have to do it very cleanly and very nicely. And read the article…
Hare Krishna Prabhu,
I wanted to ask about 2 foods – honey & milk. Honey is taken from the bees who collect it for their use, & sometimes bee eggs are crushed along with it, hence whether or not to have honey ?
Secondly, I read somewhere that only that milk must be had, which comes from a happy & content cow, which is not pregnant, allowing the calf to have its share, & milk must not be pasteurized, homogenized & the like. We cannot control these factors, nor can we keep a cow & milk it everyday. So must milk be had ?
Thank you.
Hare Krishna Kaustubh
Yes. Milk is an essential food. Milk is necessary to develop the finer tissues of the brain that are necessary for understanding spritual life. So really without drinking milk one can not become Krishna conscious. That is why the cow is so important. That is why cows are protected. Because cows give milk and milk is such an essential food.
Ideally we should have our own farms and get our own milk from Krishna’s cows. But if that is not possible then we still have to get milk. Milk is very essential. So if we take milk from any cow, even in the modern industrial system, and offer that cow’s milk to Krishna, then that is the best possible benefit for that cow. To offer her milk to Krishna.
So yes. Milk is essential.
Honey is not essential but also it is very good for the bees if the nice honey they have produced is offered to Krishna. So yes. That is very good. Offering nice honey to Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna Madhudvisa dasa. In the same respect offering the fruits, vegetables, grains to Krishna benefit the farmers that grew these things or objects right?
Yes. Everyone benefits by offering to Krishna.
Thank you very much for this wonderful information PrabhuG. when I cook home I do offer Prasadam to Lord Krishna.Being alone sometimes I buy food from outside vegetarian foods but I don\’t offer to Lord Krishna .Please advise me what should I do in this situation.Also Prabhu evry day morning & evening I lit Diya & offer fruit n water.
Please advise me
Your servant
SOpanPrabhu
We have to set up our lives in such a way that we have a regulated life where we can cook and offer bhoga to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and only accept Krishna prasadam.
If we eat food that is not offered to Krishna we are eating only sin and that will inhibit our progress in Krishna consciousness.
So if we are serious, if we really want to advance in Krishna consciousness, we will only accept Krishna prasadam. It just requires setting our priorities correctly and organizing so we can cook and offer to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. It is not very difficult. If you are traveling you can cook everything in one pot very quickly. It is easy. We just have to do it. Only accept Krishna prasadam. Otherwise we will not be able to become Krishna conscious actually.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna prabhu ji
all glories to srila prabhupad
all pure love to Krishna ji
respect for u
nice and knowledgeful artical. Prabhu ji I am still eating food with onions and garlic. As I make chapatis at the time of dinner for my family I cook a different chapati small in size for Krishna on the same chapati pan with the thoughts of Krishna enjoying them, I put the chapati in my plate with very small quantity of ghee spread on it, I then take the name of Chaitanya mahaprabhu, srila prabhupad and Krishna ji with three bites of that chapati i lovabley keep them aside in my plate, I do not offer anything from sabjis as they consist of onions and garlics. Many times sitting in front of my plate with food in it I think about my sins which will be created with that not offered food and about Krishna that how I serve him only once a day. I know Krishna dose not starv for food as he gives me that I dont give it to him. I sometimes cook kheer for Krishna in the regular bowl in which we boil our milk and offer it to Krishna. Prabhu at this time of life these things are not in my hand, once when I said to my brother and mum that from tomorrow i’ll be fasting ikadasi they disagreed and a great argument was done. I know whatever I am doing is creating sins for me but I also know that the day i’ll stand on my feet i’ll be able to remove sins but what till then? Should I continue with what I am doing or should I leave it as it’s done in a offencive way?
always madly in love with Krishna
thanking you
hare krishna
Hare Krishna Vanshika
This is maya. Maya will always try to discourage us from practicing Krishna consciousness. It is very good what you are doing but we should never be satisfied with the devotional service we are doing. We have to be always improving. So you have to constantly improve, constantly increase your devotional service to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and the nondevotees will always be against this.
You do not have to make a big advancement to the family that “Tomorrow is ekadasi, I will fast.” No. Just quietly fast on ekadasi without making a big thing about it. As far as cooking, if you are already cooking chapatis and kheer for Krishna then that is very good, and gradually you can cook more things for Krishna, and gradually there will be so much prasadam around your house because you are cooking all these things for Krishna that there will no need to eat anything with garlic and onions in it..
Devotional service means we have to be very enthusiastic and try to do everything always very perfectly and to the proper standards, and at the same time we have to also be patient and realize that it may take some time before everything is coming out perfectly. But if in our minds we are always trying for perfection in our service to Krishna and working towards that, then ultimately we will achieve that perfection…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna prabhu ji
your every word works.
thanks for the nice advice, as I was very puzzled in this, i’ll wait for the right time and will continue with what I am doing,when I am still not satisfied with the service. i’ll convince my ma for ekadshi fast as I do really want to improve.
prabhu what about we not eating anything else then Krishna prasadam? I dont cook that much kheer and chapatis so it would make it up for all day long when I know that one should eat only that much to keep Soul & body together.
You can cook more. It is not that you have to starve. You can cook more and you can leave it in the pots and offer to Krishna whatever fits on His plates and He will also taste what you left in the pots. It will all become prasadam. Even what is still in the pots.
Hare Krishna prabhu ji
thankyou prabhuji for helpful advices.
Hare Krishna prabhu ji
hre krshna pr ji
I’m new in krshna consciousness regularly visiting east of kailash iskon temple in new delhi also attending gita classes and doing mala. My parents are using garlic n onion in their food. my mother make separate food for me without onion n garlic but according to ur mail that food is also sin becoz my mother is not devotee but sometimes she read bhagvad gita also n i hav no enough time to cook myself . so what shold i do in this situation ?
Hare Krishna Sumit
In India the idea of Krishna consciousness is in the culture, it is in the hearts of the people. Unfortunately because of so much bogus preaching over the years in India the philosophy has become very confused there now and people really do not know what to do and what not to do anymore. But Indians generally still have the feeling of devotion, the feeling of wanting to worship the Supreme Lord.
So your mother is a devotee. She is already cooking separate for you. That is very nice. But you can gradually convince her to cook separately not for you but for Krishna. She would maybe like to have a small alter, or maybe she already has one, and she can cook for Krishna and offer to Krishna, like that.
Or she can cook and you can offer to Krishna. But she should know that she is cooking for Krishna not that she is cooking for you. And that will be OK.
In the beginning it may not be possible to do everything perfectly and Krishna understands that. But it is very important that you chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, that you strictly follow the four regulative principles: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication and that you read Srila Prabhupada’s books every day. These are the essential things and if you concentrate on doing these things every day then automatically all the other details will also fall into place in time.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna Madhudvisa dasa prabhuji. i have come to know you are the one who started the Krishna Store site selling books and and more. I would like to have the 11 dvd set of kurma so that i can see how the food is physically cooked. I cannot afford it. I am not asking you to buy it for me. But I am requestion you that can i get the videos of the DVD sent by you via Internet to me so that i can watch those videos and cook
After some time I will upload these DVDs to http://www.KrishnaTube.com and you can watch them there. Should be in a month or two at the latest…
In the meantime you can just get the cookbook:
http://krishnastore.com/the-hare-krishna-book-of-vegetarian-cooking-soft-cover-h-krishna-1490.html
This is the paperback, very inexpensive but very, very good. Much better than the videos for learning how to cook for Krishna.
The cookbook is way, way more practical than the DVDs…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
is simply saying “sri vishnu” 3 times considered a bonafide way to offer food? i was told years ago that doing that doesnt make it prasad, but just eliminates the sin. i was told it is a quick thing to do when you are on the road and your only food option is stopping at a convenience store for a pack of peanuts or potato chips , or a container of yogurt, and a bottle of juice or 7up, ect. So, is sri vishnuing bonafide? does it make it prasad or simply negate the sin? what is the origin of sri vishnuing? was prabhupada aware of this practice? did he approve? thank you
Hare Krishna Sevananda Prabhu
You can not get Krishna to accept an offering from you by Sri Visnuing it. Nor can you get Krishna to accept it by performing a gorgeous ceremony in a beautiful temple will all the most opulent foods and first-class things. Krishna has no interest actually in georgous first-class food nor does he really have any interest in your Sri-Visnuing. What does He care about that?
Actually we have no direct relationship with Krishna like this and when we offer food we are not offering it to Krishna. We make offerings to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Prabhupada then offers our offering to Srila Bhaktsiddhanta and then in this way, through the disciplic succession, the offering goes to Krishna. So Prabhupada also does not care about very gorgeous arrangements for offering food or Sri Visnuing. What Prabhupada and Krishna actually accept from us is the love and devotion and surrender and service with which we prepare and offer foods to him.
So you can not make everything cheap like this. You have to actually get the first-class ingredients for cooking with the idea that you are going to prepare an nice offering for Krishna and you have to cook the offering for Srila Prabhupada and offer it nicely to Srila Prabhupada in the way that Prabhupada teaches us to offer which is by chanting all the mantras 3 times and then if you have brahman initiation chanting the first line of the gayatri mantra ten times. This is the system. But even if you follow this system very strictly if you are not truly in love with Srila Prabhupada and if you have not truly prepared the offering with love and devotion for Srila Prabhupada to please Srila Prabhupada then he is not interested in such a gorgeous offering. Prabhupada is interested in your love, your surrender, your service. That is what he actually accepts from us. So that love, surrender and service has to be there and if it really is there Prabhupada will accept your offering even before you ‘Sri Visnu’ it or perform a gerogous offering procedure.
So for a pure devotee of Krishna he can even offer things to Krishna in his mind without any external ceremony and for someone who is not a pure devotee of Krishna they can not offer anything to Krishna no matter what sort of mantras they chant or gorgeous arrangements they may make for a pompous offering ceremony in a grand temple.
So you have to understand very clearly that Krishna accepts the love, devotion, surrender and service. And if that love, devotion, surrender and service is not there he is not going to accept anything from you.
So we have to become pure devotees of Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and then Prabhupada will accept all of our offerings even if we ‘Sri Visnu’ them or offer them in our mind. But we should not do this unless there is really some genuine need to do it. Like we are out on book distribution and can not do the full offering and chant the mantras. We should do this always, chant the mantras, make the proper offering, unless we are out distributing Prabhupada’s books and it is not practical to do that.
And we can only offer food which has been prepared with love and devotion by devotees.Nothing else. Fruit, water and yoghurt for example we can offer. This 7up is not really offerable. Of course Prabhupada accepted it a few times and that became the official ISKCON drink. So Prabhupada is very merciful, he may accept your 7up, but in principle we should offer water, nice fresh fruit juice, milk, etc…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu!
Under what circumstances did Srila Prabhupada accept 7up?
7up is definitely a drink prepared by non-devotees. To make things worse, it is also artificially carbonated. Then why did Prabhupada accept it? This question has been hovering in my mind for a few months. Please reply the earliest, and I mean no offense, Prabhu.
I have no idea.
Srila Prabhupada could accept poision as well so we cannot imitate Srila Prabhupada or any other great personalities.
Is there a video showing how to offer food to Lord Krishna step by step? It would be helpful for me.
Thank you,
Edward
There are the ‘Cooking with Kurma’ videos. They show you very nicely how to cook for Krishna:
http://krishnastore.com/great-vegetarian-dishes-cooking-with-kurma-11-dvd-set-h-krishna-504.html
It is simple. The main thing is to realize that you are cooking for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and that you are not cooking for yourself. This consciousness has to be there because actually what is accepted by Krishna is the love with which you make the offering for Him. So if there is no love for Krishna in the offering, no desire to please Krishna by making a very nice offering, then we can not expect Krishna to accept our offering. He accepts our love for Him so we have to cook for Him with love. It is like if you love someone in the material world and if you invite that person to your house for a meal then you want to prepare something that is very much to their liking, something that they will very much enjoy. So it is like this with cooking for Krishna. We have to prepare a very nice offering for Krishna with the foodstuffs that Krishna likes to eat. So this is the main point.
The mantras and everything are secondary. You can offer food to Krishna by chanting Srila Prabhupada’s pranam mantras, the Sri Krishna Caitanya… mantra and the Hare Krishna mantra. So just do it…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna, Probhuji
Is it must to have a guru to get Krishna? If yes, how much it is necessary.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare
Hare Krishna Kartik
Guru is absolutely necessary. There is no possibility of becoming Krishna conscious without a bona fide guru. The only way to Krishna is by pleasing the pure devotee of Krishna. There is no way to Krishna except by the mercy of a pure devotee of Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna prabhu ji,
We have been following the basic principles of cooking for Lord Krishna on daily basis and honouring the Prasadam as I was at home. Sometimes there is leftover Prasad, I know you don’t throw them or offer again the next day. So do one has to cook more fresh dishes the next day? And I will be back to work again so I am worried that I wont be able to cook everyday different type of Prasad. wasting the Prasad will be sinful. Please advise.
Hare Krishna Guddi
It is very good news you have been cooking for Krishna.
The idea of cooking for Krishna is that it is for Krishna and therefore should be done on a regular schedule as far as possible. Of course you have to be practical and cook something within the time that is available to you. And there are many preparations, if you get yourself organized, that you can make and offer within less than an hour. The idea is to cook for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna every day. That is the best standard. And the idea of cooking and keeping the remnants and eating them for days is not very much appreciated in Vedic culture. The best thing is to cook what is required and then when more is required to cook again.
Of course with prasadam it can be accepted later. So you can put it in the refrigerator and honor it the next day, but as I have written this is not the ideal situation, but of course we have to be practical as you point out. The proper standard that is followed in the temples is that once it is cooked and offered the prasadam can not come back into the kitchen again and it can not be stored with the bhoga [unoffered foodstuffs], so offered prasadam can not be put in a refrigerator where unoffered foodstuffs are being stored. Of course in your home maybe you will not follow this point so strictly, but still there should be some separation between the offered prasadam and the bhoga.
So the “bottom line” is that it is always best to just cook what is required for the current time and offer that to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and then distribute all the prasadam so there is no wastage and to cook again fresh prasadam when it is required again and this prasadam offering should be done on a regular basis every day with the idea that we are cooking for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. However we do have to be practical and organize these things with our schedule, but the better thing is to organize our schedule so there is an hour available every day when we can cook and make an offering to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna.
As far as left over prasadam it is best to cook the amount you are able to distribute so there will be no waste. If there is extra prasadam leftover it can be distributed to the animals and birds for example. If you have a back yard at your house and you have left over prasadam like rice and practically anything, you can put it outside and the birds and squirrels and cats and whatever animals you have in your area will come and honor the prasadam. Another alternative is if you have a river or stream you can put extra prasadam in that and it will be honored by the fish, etc. Or you can bury it outside and it will be eaten up by the worms, etc. But we can not throw out prasadam with the ordinary rubbish, that is offensive.
It is not that you have to cook a different kind of prasadam everyday. Generally devotees make regular offerings to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna, so each offering is generally the same things but there is variety within this of course. For example in ISKCON Srila Prabhupada established that the standard lunch prasadam is rice, dhal, subji and chapatis. So these four things are there every day, there are varieties of course in the type of subji, etc, but the same preparations are always there. It is good to be regular, even from the point of view of health it is good to eat regularly and the same simple things each day, and it is important for Deity worship that it be done in a regular and punctual way. So regular daily offerings should be made.
Of course if it is only you or a small number of people honoring the prasadam and your time is limited for preparing it then it may not be very practical to cook rice, dhal, chapatis and subji everyday. That is my situation so what I do is I cook kitery [rice, dhal and vegetables [subji] in one pot] and chapatis. That takes less than an hour because I cook the kitery in a pressure cooker which enables you to cook the dhal [which I soak overnight] in less than 1/2 an hour. If you can not even find an hour to cook you can just make kitery and that takes practically no time at all as all you have to do is put some rice and dhal in a pot and boil that and later add a few vegetables and chaunce. So although the cooking time will be about 1/2 an hour in a pressure cooker you only have to spend about 5-10 minutes of your time to prepare kitery. And you can offer it with a glass of water or juice and some yoghurt, etc, so this way you can prepare a nice offering using only 5-10 minutes of your time. So I do not think there is really any excuse for not cooking and offering to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna every day, you just need to organize your time and prepare something practical that you can make in the time you have available.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
I was told to offer firt to one`s spiritual master and the spiritual master offers to Srila Prabhupada and then it goes to Krishna through the Pampara.
Hare Krishna Satyavati
This only works if your spiritual master happens to be a pure devotee of Krishna. If he is not then instead of passing your offering to him onto Srila Prabhupada he will try to enjoy it himself and he will go to hell and you will also go to hell and your offering will never get to the prarampara or Krishna.
So we have to be very careful to have a pure devotee of Krishna as our spiritual master, otherwise we are completely lost under the insufficient guidance of our bogus guru…
Actually to become guru is not difficult. You have to simply repeat what Krishna says. You have to remember Krishna always, worship Krishna, offer everything to Krishna. So if you become sincere, if you constantly 24 hours a day remain in Krishna consciousness then Krishna is in your heart, he will speak to you, you can be a bona fide guru, you can preach Krishna consciousness all over the world. But the reality is we see so many rascals who are not constantly engaged in Krishna consciousness 24 hours a day and who are not simply surrendered servants of Srila Prabhupada become guru for some personal benefit… So these bogus gurus have confused and spoiled everything…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna, Madhudvisa dasa ji,
Can you please write an article on Ekadashi’s rules and regulations? There is a Ekadashi on June 3. So does the Ekadashi fast goes for 3 days ( the day before, the day Ekadashi is and the day after) or the fast is only for one day. There are so many opinions on Ekadashi online on what to do and what not to do, that I get confused.
Thank you!
Your servant,
Tushar
Hare Krishna Tushar
There are no big rules for Ekadasi. It is followed on the day that it says we should follow it on the Vaisnava calendar. It is one day only. And all you have to to is fast from grains on that day and increase your reading and chanting and devotional service. That is all. Nothing else.
If you want to completely fast and chant 64 rounds for example it is a great day to do this, but you do not have to, but Ekadasi is a very good day for doing extra chanting and reading and devotional service. So the bodily demands like eating and sleeping should be minimized and the devotional service should be maximized on Ekadasi.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu
I am away from home. Now I have to eat food prepared by my family which is not offered to Krishna. Usually at home I cook and offer to Krishna, then eat Prasadam. I know perfectly well that it is an offence but I have no alternative. I just pray to Krishna at table that I am eating whatever You are offering to me Krishna, and I have to eat. Prabhu, please guide me, I am in a dilemma.
Hare Krishna.
Hare Krishna Mataji
You should teach your family how to offer food to Krishna. That would be the best thing. For them and for you also.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hare Krishna Prabhu ji!
It was a perfect description regarding action in krishna Consciousness. Srila Prabhu pad has done it to 100% perfect . The description is about a single activity of eating which we do minimum of three times per day.
the whole mood gets converted to krishna conscious when we are pure at both our heart & body when we prepare , offer & then take prasadam.
if the other activities also are arranged similarly in Krishna conscoiousness , our life in this material world becomes a bliss!
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa dasa ji,
How long the kirtan and aroti should be?
Kirtanya sada hari… We should chant Hare Krishna always. So you can keep chanting Hare Krishna forever. That would be best.
You have to adjust according to time and place of course. And it depends on the situation. How many others are there, etc. You have to use your common sense on these things…
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa dasa,
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
For people with no access to devotees or temples this website is a treasure-house. And what a joy and relief to know that Srila Prabhupada is with us!
After reading many times the post about offering food to Lord Krishna and all its comments I now *begin* to understand the rhythm and details of cooking, offering, and honoring prasadam. I plan to start as soon as I receive a photo of Srila Prabhupada in the mail and buy new dishes for the prasadam. I do not want to prepare food for personal sense enjoyment anymore!
But I think I have a serious problem with pronunciation of the “Prasadam Offering Mantras”. I hope there is an aid to pronunciation of these mantras, especially audio, because I have no experience with Sanskrit. I do not want to be offensive as I chant everyday or every meal. I have ordered a “travel altar” but do not think recorded prasadam mantras come with that. I’m sure many people could learn by hearing audio of one slow repetition, along with your transliteration.
I feel this is very important and that bad pronunciation of the mantras is worse than silence? Should I just chant the mahamantra only?
Thank you, Madhudvisa dasa, for your patience in reading my concerns. I look forward to your reply. When I learn to pray, I will ask that you continue to receive strength for your devotion to Lord Krishna and Srila Prabhupada.
(Missoula, Montana)
Hare Krishna Deborah
It is very good news. Krishna knows what you are trying to chant so if there is some imperfection in the pronunciation of the mantras in the beginning it does not matter. Krishna knows what you are trying to say. So it is best to chant the mantras as best you can even if you are not completely sure of the pronunciation. The traveling temple comes with a morning program CD and that contains the audio of all the prayers and matras which we chant during the morning program. Srila Prabhupada’s pranam mantras and the Hare Krishna mantra and Panca-tattva mantra are on that, and you will hear many other mantras chanted and you will soon get the idea how things are chanted and you will have no problems with the other two mantras.
So just try your best and Krishna will give you the intelligence how to pronounce the mantras properly. There is a Sanskrit pronunciation guide in the back of all of Srila Prabhupada’s books and you can get many hints from this. One hint is the letters that have the line on top of them are ‘long’ so they are pronounced for twice as long as the short versions of the same letter.
But certainly just do everything to your best ability, there will be some imperfections in the beginning, but that does not matter, they will soon be corrected.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Thank you for the encouragement on how I will be able to learn. I’ll do my best today and begin to chant the profound mantras as I offer prasadam.
Hare Krishna!
Dear Sir,I donot qualify as a devotee or a Krsna conscious person yet but have started taking some steps to get there, having been influenced by reading some of your posts as well as the “Gita as it is” and “Krsna consciousness handbook”.Are you absolutely sure that just by chanting the mantra I shall attain peace and happiness and become Krsna conscious.I must say that after listening to the George Harrisson mantra song on the youtube(I have saved it in my pc)I felt a bit different,maybe a bit happy as well.I have 2 questions,would you be kind enough to answer.
How much is 16 rounds of chanting?(ie multiply 16 with what number).
In the introduction of “BG as it is”Shri Prabhupada says that “Lord and the lord’s name is no different,there is no difference between his name, form, quality and pastimes,Krsna and His inner spirit is not different”.I have thought over this statement for sometime.Please could you explain this line.Of course one’s name is not different from him as far as the name identifies the person but one’s name is certainly not the flesh and blood him.I can like a catchy name but I may not like him when I meet him in person.Thank you.Dipankar.
16 rounds is 16 time one round. One round means chanting the Hare Krishna mantra 108 times. This is done by devotees on ‘japa beads’ and we use counting beads to keep track of how many mantras we have chanted.
Krishna and His name are identical. You can not compare Krishna’s name with a material name. Spiritual sound is very different from material sound. Krishna is completely present in the form of His name in the Hare Krishna Maha-Mantra. This Hare Krishna maha-mantra is the sound incarnation of Krishna. It is Krishna completely in every way and contains all of Krishna’s power, potencies and energies…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa dasa,
Please accept my humble obeisances
All glories to Srila Prabhupada
This is a truly great article, thank you so much for it. It has given us so much insight into how we can serve Krishna properly.
I do have some questions to ask if i may.
*Regarding water, can we dirink normal unoffered water, or does it have to be offered? And can I drink it in the morning before my daily puja and japa.
* Is there a difference between offering prasadam to Krishna photo and Srila prabhupada/Panca tattva photo. I ask this because I am afraid I might cause too many offences whilst worshiping and offering Krishna food. Therefore I only worship and offer panca tattva and Srila prabhupada food as I was told that they are more merciful and will accept small offences. This problem mainly arises because at the moment I dont have a tulsi plant, so I can’t use it whilst offering the food. And is it wrong to just worship Srila Prabupada and panca tattva photo, and not Krishna. I do have a radha Kriahna photo in my shrine, but I just focus mainly on worshiping panca tattva and Srila prabhupada.
*Lastly, I use sunflower oil for arati. Is this alright or is ghee better to use? And are dried fruit such as raisins and sultans in the mode of goodness or ignaorance?
Please forgive me if these questions are too obvious.
Your servent,
Mack
Hare Krishna Mack
If necessary you can offer water by saying ‘Sri Visnu, Sri Visnu, Sri Visnu’ then drinking it.
We always actually offer to Srila Prabhupada and he offers to Srila Bhaktsiddhanta and in this way the offering goes to Krishna through the disciplic succession. So we are never actually directly offering to Krishna. So you are doing the correct thing in concentrating on offering to Srila Prabhupada and Panca-Tattva.
It is true that Radha-Krishna Deity worship is more difficult that worshiping Srila Prabhupada, the Panca-Tattva and Jagannatha. So it is better to do as you are doing and mainly concentrate on worshiping Srila Prabhupada and Panca-Tattva. There is no problem of course having the Radha-Krishna picture there also.
You should make the effort and get ghee for offering aroti. It is not very expensive and you can make it yourself also from butter if you need to. Vegetable oil is not very good for offering to Krishna.
Dried fruit is OK for offering to Krishna, it is in the mode of goodness. But fresh fruit is nice of course… We have to make the best offering we can but at the same time have to be practical considering the situation, etc.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa dasa,
Thank you so much for the reply.
Just to clarify, so we can drink unoffered water before daily puja and japa?
Thanks,
Mack
Hare Krishna Mack
We can not drink anything if we have not offered it to Krishna. But you can offer water to Krishna by chanting ‘Sri Visnu, Sri Visnu, Sri Visnu’.
Or, better, you can keep some offered water in a container and drink that, but in any case we can not accept anything that is not first offered to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa dasa,
Thank you once more for the reply.
You have helped me so much, thank you for your great kindness.
Your servent,
Mack
Hara Krishna Prabu
All glories to srila prabupada!
Pabu’s this is in regard’s to demigods not being pure devotees.
1.I quote u
“They are all devotees of Krishna, but not pure devotees, because they still have some material desire they have been promoted to the position of demigods instead of being able to go back home, back to Godhead…”
Here’s some contradiction Lord Shiva is a pure devotee (vaishnava nam yatha shambu) his son subramanya(Kartikaya commander of gods army in baghvadh githa)
is also a pure devotee this I can say as I have seen a temple in Mangalore Karnataka India (called Kudupu Anantapadmanabha temple) Here subramanya swamy is worshipped beside Ananta and Padmanaba swamy. He holds shanka and chakra
just like vishnudhootas so his body is spiritual and he is an eternal associate of padmanabha swamy. Does it not contradict the statment made by u to Manuel.
2. Prabu in BG Lord krishna identifies with many demigods for example he says among commanders I am Kartikeya so what perplexes me is it voilates a offence(1 amoung 10 offenses) in chanting wherin one considers demigods like lord shiva, brahma to be equal to lord vishnu. so to consider demigods as equal to lord vishnu is a offence but lord himself proclames himself with many demigods and exalted personalities in BG.
I am perplexed with it can u resolve my issue?
Regards
utsav hegde k
Hare Krishna Utsav
Lord Shiva has a special place. He is not actually one of the demigods who are generally all jiva-tattva like us. You or me, for example, could become qualified and promoted to the position of Lord Brahma or Suriya or Indra, Chandra, etc. But we can never become Lord Shiva, nor can we ever become Krishna or any of His Visnu-tattva expansions. Lord Shiva belongs to his own category, shiva-tattva, you could say.
And the description of Lord Shiva is that he is Krishna transformed by contact with the material energy. And the example to explain this given by Srila Prabhupada is that of milk when it gets transformed into yoghurt by contact with some sour element. Actually yoghurt is only milk, it is made from milk only, but it has completely different qualities to milk. So Shiva is like that. He is Visnu only, but in Shiva Visnu has been transformed by contact with the material energy, and as the milk, when transformed by the contact of some sour element, is transformed into yoghurt it no longer acts as milk but acts in a completely different way, and can no longer be turned back into milk, once Lord Shiva is manifest by Visnu in contact with the material energy he becomes Shiva and acts completely differently to Visnu. And one can not get the same benefits from worshiping Lord Shiva as he can by worshiping Lord Visnu or Krishna.
Lord Shiva, as we know him, is in the material world, and can only give benedictions within the material world. So his benedictions are limited only to the material world. Therefore if one is interested in getting out of the material world there is no point in asking Lord Shiva for this. Yes Lord Shiva is a great Vaisnava, and if you approach him with that understanding one can worship and glorify him in this regard.
In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna does not identify with any demigods. Krishna clearly establishes that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that He is the Supreme, that we have to surrender to and worship Him. What you are referring to in the Bhagavad-gita in the opulences of the absolute chapter is that Krishna states that anything that is exceptional or wonderful can be understood as Him. And he mentions many things, not just great demigods, but airvarata the elephant, that Himalayan mountains, etc. These are examples of exceptional powerful or great things that Krishna is using to try to explain the extent of His greatness to materialists who can only conceive of things in relation to something they can imagine or something they can experience. It is not that Krishna is ‘identifying’ with the elephant of the Himalayan mountains or the demigods he mentions, Krishna is using all these great things to try and give the reader a hint of his greatness. Everything powerful and great in the material world is simply a small exhibition of Krishna’s unlimited power and greatness. And this is what that section of the Bhagavad-gita is about. It is a great mistake to say Krishna is identifying with demigods in the Bhagavad-gita and you are trying to say by this that the demigods are the same as Krishna. Which is a very, very great mistake…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hara Krishna Prabu
All glories to srila prabupada!
Thankyou for ur reply!Prabu I had a major tussel with my rittvik temple commander on reheating of prasadam it started when I encountered a conversation of prabupada wherin he blasts a devotee for reheating mahaprasada by using microwave and said “I never told u to reheat it I just told to bring the prasada” my temple commander said that it’s a localised incident prabupada says different things at different times it’s not easy to understand what prabupada means. But I was not convinced and thanks to your answer I now know the truth but I would like u to quote prabupada (Carl Jung says”mind is only capable of making sense or nonsense not know what’s wright or wrong”) coz the reason given by you for not reheating is tat it’s not for krishna. I am asking this so that I can validate it. And you know prabupada allows us to take hot water bath which is not for Krishna’s sake but due to our inability to tolarate cold water. So I would appreciate it if u could quote prabupada on this issue so that it’ll put a fullstop to my issue.
Regards
utsav
Hare Krishna Prabhu
Really I think this reheating prasadam issue is more stressed in ISKCON than it was ever stressed by Srila Prabhupada. I do not know of a quote where Prabhupada says directly ‘don’t reheat prasadam.’ There may be, but I do not know it.
There were no microwave ovens when Srila Prabhupada was physically present on the planet, they hadn’t been invented yet, or at least they were not being marketed yet, so your ‘Prabhupada quote’ is wrong.
And anyhow no one would dare reheat anything to offer to Srila Prabhupada. For offering to Srila Prabhupada everything has to be freshly cooked obviously. Prabhupada is not different from Krishna. So as you can’t just reheat something you cooked yesterday and offer it to Krishna again you can’t do this with Prabhupada either… Prabhupada only ate lunch and he had his cook freshly cook for him each day…
But really reheating prasadam is not a very serious offense…
Many temples reheat prasadam, and as I said I also do it sometimes. In a perfect world you should only cook the amount that you need and it should all be consumed and you cook freshly the next time. That is the proper way and that is what we should do. But sometimes in our preaching work it is hard to predict how much prasadam will be necessary so you end up with a lot of extra prasadam. And you know prasadam should not be wasted. And Prasadam can be taken also after. But if it is subji and it is just coming out of the refrigerator then if you serve that freezing cold subji to the devotees they will not be able to digest it… And they may get sick…
So you know one has to be practical. Ideally we should organize to cook only the correct amount so that it is all served out and all honored by the devotees and then there is none left over and the next time it is freshly cooked and offered and then there is no problem. But sometimes there is prasadam left over and then we have to do something with it…
Srila Prabhupada does say that the prasadam can not be taken back into the kitchen again after it is taken out to be distributed. So temples generally have a ‘prasadam fridge’ where the left over prasadam goes that is outside the kitchen. But these are just practical organization things and for people living in their own homes you know this is not the main point.
The main point is not to ever eat anything that is not cooked by devotees with love and devotion and offered to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. Other things like this one simply has to use his common sense. It is certainly not a very good thing to get into a big argument with a devotee about, reheating prasadam…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hare krishna…prabhu i am a 18 year old boy from india…the thing is that i suffer from two disorders named ocd and pyschosis…one of the symptoms of ocd is that one is excessively religious and psychosis symptoms are being in a alternative reality…now the problem is that my krishna consciouness and spirituality is taken as a symbol of my disorders…i am scolded by my parents for it and i cant offer food to krishna as so…so how can i help myself in such a situation…i must have been a sinner in my previous birth so i have these disorders…how can i free myself from such sins which i have done…and my parents are not irreligious person…they beleive in gods and worship many demigods…but they dont understand the path which i have taken… please help me prabhu…what should i do
Hare Krishna Himansh
You should avoid these nonsense terms and just become Krishna conscious by reading Srila Prabhupada’s books and chanting Hare Krishna. You can do it in a quiet way without making a lot of fuss and unnecessarily agitating your parents and family. Just keep on chanting Hare Krishna, reading Prabhupada’s books and offering to Krishna. Don’t take any notice of them, but at the same time be nice and polite to them and agree with everything they say, but don’t actually do what they say. Don’t let them disturb your Krishna consciousness, but at the same time try not to unnecessarily disturb them with your Krishna consciousness… Be nice to them. Be sane and friendly. But do not compromise any of your Krishna conscious principles.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Dear Prabhu,
Pray that you are keeping well. Maharaj i am very sorry to trouble you but one of our cats has leukeamia and is her final stages. She has stopped eating and only drinks a little water now and then. What do you suggest we do for her as the vet has suggested euthanasia. We would like her to advance to a higher level in her next life and dont know what to do as we are reluctant to put her down as we are not aware of the consequences for her and us should we proceed with such an act . Can you please advise us?
Thank You
Hare Krishna.
Narvin and Cindy Maharaj.
It is better not to get too attached to cats and dogs otherwise it is possible you will remember them at the time of death and in the next life there is a good chance you will take on the body of a cat which would be a great step backwards as it is not easy for a cat to practice Krishna consciousness.
Of course a devotee sees all living entities equally so he sees the spirit soul in a cat in the same way as he sees the spirit soul in a man. So there is no difference really in the way a pure devotee will treat a cat and a man. In any case he will try to help the living entity encaged in the material body elevate his consciousness to Krishna consciousness so that in the next life he can take a human body at least or go back home, back to Godhead if possible.
There is no ‘mercy killing’. The final time of life is a good opportunity to come closer to Krishna so it is better to let your cat die naturally and let him take Krishna prasadam and hear the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra and in that way his consciousness will be elevated and he will at least get a human body in the next life.
But you have to be careful not to become like Jada Bharata who was a great saint living in the Himalayan mountains who was seriously practicing spiritual life but saved a poor baby deer from being eaten by a lion and over the time he became very attached to that baby dear, so much so that he could no longer concentrate on his spiritual practices, he was instead always thinking of that baby deer. So he died thinking of the deer and had to take birth again in the body of a deer…
So you have to consider all these things and do the needful.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Thank you very much for your advice regarding our cat Prabhu. She left her body on the 1 April but we did exactly what we thought was right to do for her and it was the right thing seeing from your reply. Thank very much once again. May Lord Krishna bless you with his mercy and abundance of bhakti
From Cindy and Narvin
Hare Krishna
How about sutak period!!???
As we cannot offer food to lord
Hare Krishna
This is just a Hindu tradition. It is not important. What is important is that you are constantly engaged in Krishna kirtan and that will drive away anything that may be inauspicious. We do not follow these Hindu things. There is no time when we can not serve Srila Prabhupada and Krishna by preparing nice offerings and offering them.
So the offerings to Krishna must go on in any situation. If you have established some sort of Deity worship in your house then you have to keep cooking for Krishna and making regular offerings in all circumstances.
So the offerings to Krishna should never stop and you should never eat anything which is not Krishna prasadam, Krishna’s mercy…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare krishna.
Sorry to write down like this!!
But in one calendar printed by ISKCON I have read that one should not touch god during sutak periods!!so I was confused.
Hare krishna
Well if it is printed like that on an ISKCON calendar then that ISKCON calendar is bogus. You will find many bogus things in today’s ISKCON. It is better to just read Srila Prabhupada’s books and get your information about Krishna consciousness directly from Srila Prabhupada. In this way you will always be getting the correct information…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Many thanks for the right guidance
Hara Krishana Prabuji!
All glories to srila prabupada!
Prabu while I was serving as a bhakta in one of the rittvik temples in India which I have stopped going to upon your advice I noticed that they reheat Mahaprasadam what does prabupada say about reheating mahaprasada can it be done?
Prabu I am chanting 16 rounds joined a job in a BPO in tech support(in training for the week) parents critisise my chanting as I chant loudly but I go on without fear of being admitted to mental hospital.
Prabu I didn’t learn cooking so I am not able to offer food and get prasadam.
Prabu how do I listen(accesss) to leactures now that I am outside temple?
I want to learn Mridanga and Kartal how can I learn it?
Prabu I am put in night shift(Graveyard shift) so difficult to make time to read prabupada books. Have I done the wright thing joining BPO?
Need your advice.
regards
utsav
Hare Krishna Utsav
Yes. Mahaprasadam should not be reheated. Prasadam should not be reheated. That is the rule for sure. That is what Srila Prabhupada says. The reason of course is as devotees we should only ever do anything for Krishna. So we cook for Krishna and offer the bhoga to Krishna but once it is prasadam then we need to honor it only. The thing is if we reheat it then you have to ask the question ‘who am I reheating it for?’ and the answer can not be Krishna, because it is already offered to Krishna, He has already tasted it. So we are reheating it for our own sense pleasure.
So that is the reason, and the problem, if we reheat it we are doing that for ourselves, not for Krishna, and that is a problem because when we do things for ourselves then there will be a karmic reaction to that, good or bad, that we have to suffer or enjoy in the future. So this reheating of the Krishna prasadam will entangle us more and more in the cycle of birth and death.
I must admit that I also sometimes reheat prasadam and will have to consider this… But what I have written about is the correct understanding.
As far as cooking you just have to learn to cook for Prabhupada and Krishna. It is not difficult. Just learn how to do it…
The Prabhupada lectures you can purchase at:
http://krishnastore.com/srila-prabhupada-mp3-audio-library-now-on-dvds-h-krishna-404.html
everything for less than $20 and you can listen and download for free at:
http://krishna.tv
If you are working at night then you can read Prabhupada’s books during the day? Why not? You have to adjust. In the material world we will never find a perfect arrangement for anything. So you know what you have to do. You have to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, strictly follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day [and only eat Krishna prasadam…]. Actually there are many things but these are the main ones. And you just have to do these things and around that fit the activities you have to perform for maintaining your material body which would include doing something to make some money so you can maintain yourself and your family if you want to have one.
So we just have to adjust and learn the things like how to cook for Prabhupada and Krishna and just do it.
I cook kitery and chapatis every day and offer that lunch to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and I get to eat wonderful Krishna prasadam every day. I am always in amazement as to how such simple rice, dhal and vegetables can become so delicious and tasty after offering to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna… It is very simple to cook, takes less than an hour, and honestly it is completely satisfying and wonderful. Of course you can cook and offer so many wonderful things to Krishna. Devotees of Krishna are of course good cooks. Because they want to make nice things to offer to Krishna…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
pranam prabhu
father kindly tell me if offering food to my kanhai and sweet sweet balaram ,in my mind ,is real devotional service ,and wether my kanhai and balaram accepts it ,i also offer our spiritual master HIS DIVIN GRACE A.C BHAKTIBEDANTA SWAMI PRABHUPADA FOODSTUFFS , in my mind,is that ok??
your servent
Hare Krishna Ananya
Yes. It is nice to prepare nice offerings in your mind and offer them to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. There is one story about a brahmana who did this in the Sri Caitanya-caritamrta and if you read that book you will come across it.
But you can only accept Krishna prasadam yourself. You can not accept anything which is not cooked by a devotee and offered to Krishna. Therefore as well as cooking for Krishna in your mind you will have to also cook for Krishna with your hands. Because there has to be some prasadam so you can accept it and keep your body and soul together and healthy so you can use it to serve Srila Prabhupada and Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare krishna prabhu jie the mind offering is very good because i think you now the story about a pour bhramana he was cooking kheer and offered like that in his mind and he burn tha finger thats why krishna is alszo please by mind offering
Mind offering is only for when you can not offer in reality. Poor brahmana could not offer all these things actually, because he had no money. But if you think you can do mind offering and avoid the actual offering which you can afford, then that will not be at all effective…
Hare Krishna Dear Prabhuj,
thanks a lot prbhuji for giving proper way of offering foods to Lord krishna.I have one boubt that ginger and garlics are passionate food which is not offered to krishna and also should not eaten by a devotee.But ginger and garlic are used for some meditional purpose.if a devotee takes such medicine whether he/she is eating sinful foods.Also ginger and garlic are vegiterian food.
Thanks
Purna chandra
Hare Krishna Purna Chandra
Ginger is OK for offering to Krishna. Garlic is not.
I think you can avoid garlic without any problem.
Medicine is of course not Krishna-prasadam. We don’t offer medicine to Krishna, it is to help maintain and heal our body that we will use in the service of Krishna. So if we are taking the medicine so we can get well so we can serve Krishna with our bodies then that can be service to Krishna. But I do not think there is any need to take any prohibited things like garlic which will cause one to get into the mode of passion, which will not be good for his Krishna consciousness. One could also say many medicines contain alcohol so can I drink alcohol if it is in the medicine. But alcohol is so very contaminating and will have a very bad effect on our consciousness so even if we take it in our medicine it will be bad for our Krishna consciousness.
Really, if one actually becomes Krishna conscious, and lives a simple life and takes simple Krishna prasadam and rises early, chanting Hare Krishna, and engages in serving Krishna 24 hours a day, he will very rarely need to take any medicine, and even if you do need some medicine I am sure you can find something that does not contain alcohol, garlic, etc…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hare krishna swamiji pranam
this afticle is enlightening much. thank you. hare krishna.
Natarajan
HARA KRISHNA PRVUJE
AT FIRST I GIVE YOU VERY VERY THANKS TO YOU FOR NICE ADVISE .PRAVUJE WHEN I AM COOKING I AM ALWAYS TELL GOD .{HEY KRISHNA YOU ARE IN MY HEART AS OUR SOLE SO WHEN I AM EAT SOMETHING YOU ARE ALSO EAT SO MY FOOD YOU TEST FIRST IN YOUR SENSE .AN GIVE ME ORDER TO EAT IT LIKE YOUR PRASAD) BECAUSE I NEVER OFFER FOOD AT EXTRA PLATE IN FRONT OF YOUR PHOTO. BUT BEFORE PREPARE FOOD I ALWAYS BATH AND KRITAN OF KRISHNA . IS MY FOOD IS NOT PRASSAD PRAVUJEE.PLEASE GIVE SOME ADVISE ME?
Hare Krishna Nirupama
Of course it is up to Krishna if He accepts your offerings or not so how can I say but it is not the right understanding to think that ‘O Krishna when I eat you eat…’ This is not the right mood. We should cook for Krishna, not cook for ourselves. And we have to offer to Krishna and take the remnants of Krishna’s food, that is Krishna Prasadam, Krishna’s mercy. So you should follow the proper system and after cooking you need to make up a nice plate on Krishna’s own plate and offer it to Him. And then once Krishna has enjoyed your offering you can take Krishna prasadam. It does not take very long and you will find it a very nice feeling, cooking for Krishna and offering the bhoga to Krishna…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare krsna parbhu, this is may quiestion
What kind of body does the semigod have?
The vedas say that demigods does not have ordinary body as we have
Thancks so much.
Hare Krishna Manuel
The demigod’s bodies are material like ours. But they are much better than ours in their ability for sense enjoyment and in many other ways. Of course there are so many demigods, the number 33 million is sometimes mentioned, and they are all different and have different exceptional abilities depending on what sort of special ability they need to perform the service that Krishna has allocated to them.
The demigods are fabulous in comparison to us. And in many different ways, but still their bodies are material, made of the five material elements: earth, water, air, fire and ether. Of course the proportions can differ from us. For example we know that there are living entities in the sun planet, there is a sun god, he is a demigod, he is a person, he has a material body, but his body is mostly fire whereas our bodies are mostly water.
So in comparison to us the bodies of the demigods are certainly special, but they are still material bodies and the demigods, like us, take birth, get old, get sick and die. It is just that in comparison to us their lives are fabulously long and comparatively speaking they have much greater facilities for material enjoyment than we do. But you know also the demons are always fighting with the demigods. So they do not have undisturbed enjoyment, they do not have peace of mind.
They are still in the material world, they still have material desires. They are all devotees of Krishna, but not pure devotees, because they still have some material desire they have been promoted to the position of demigods instead of being able to go back home, back to Godhead…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Dear Prabhuji!
I am still living with my family who are not devotees. since i am young, i cannot always cook and after reading the article i feel i have had offended Lord many times by offering Him what my mother had prepared. also i thank lord for covering my intelligence most of the time. but my problem is that i do not know how to get out of this situation of accepting sinful food, without creating much chaos at home. even my spiritual name is not known at home.
kindly help me
Hare Krishna Mataji
It is a very difficult situation. In the past, when ISKCON temples were being properly run according to the directions of Srila Prabhupada, the obvious answer would be to join the temple. But that is not practical now, it would not help you even if they would let you join. I think there is no harm in telling your family that you are a devotee of Krishna. How can they not know?
Anyhow the main thing is to surrender to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna, to chant every day at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and to strictly follow the four regulative principles (no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication) and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. If you actually do all these things Krishna will give you inspiration and intelligence from within and you will be able to understand what is the correct thing for you to do. I can not say what that is.
But you do have to get out of the situation of accepting sinful food. It is a very essential aspect for our development in Krishna consciousness that we only accept Krishna prasadam and if there are no other devotees around to cook it and offer it to Krishna that means we have to cook and offer bhoga to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna ourselves, and that cooking for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna is also of course a wonderful service and that will also help us advance spiritual a great deal…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsihna,Madhudvisa dasa ji,
Thanks for such a nice article…
Do we also have to make our own (Western)bread, butter and cheese at home….?
You can not eat anything that is cooked by non-devotees so certainly you can not eat bread cooked by non-devotees. Western bread is not very good because it contains yeast. It is better to cook chapatis / rotis for Krishna. That is very fast and easy and very nice for Krishna. Butter is OK. That we can purchase. But of course if you can keep a few cows and milk them and churn the yoghurt into butter that would be best. But that is not possible for many of us now. As far as cheese, almost all of the cheese contains rennet as a hardening agent and that is generally made from calves stomachs. So cheese with chopped up baby cows in it is absolutely not fit for offering to Krishna. Better to just purchase milk, or milk cows if you can keep them, and you can make curd from the milk very easily just by boiling it and adding lemon juice of citric acid and then straining it. Then you get the kurds in the strainer and the whey in the pot underneath. You can press the curd lightly for a few hours and that makes a block of cheese that you can cut into squares and use as it is or deep fry it and put it in subjis and so many other things… So you can make you own chapatis and fresh cheese for offering to Krishna and buying butter and milk is the only practical option for most of us who can not keep cows…
Devotees are not karmis and can not live like karmis. If we live like karmis eating the food cooked by karmis like the store purchased bread then we will become karmis, we will not be able to become devotees…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna,Madhudvisa dasa ji
I have another question. They have cheeses which have FPC rennet in it…they basically add a cow gene into a bacteria and it hardens the cheese. I just recently came to know about this.(Lord Krishna guided me.. i guess). Also in non-organic milk they add Vitamin D3 which is made from skin of pigs/sheep. In America they put lot of non-veg stuff in veg stuff and most people are unaware about it.F.D.A is basically run by corporations like Monsanto(in India many farmers committed suicide partly because of this company).
In future it is said that due to genetic engineering, companies like Monsanto, might put an animal gene in vegetarian crops. Would a vegetarian crop ,like wheat, be considered vegetarian if it has animal gene in it? (just for future reference)
I agree with whatever you said above. I will be making butter and cheese from organic milk in the future. Being vegan is probably the safest way of making no offenses while preparing and serving food for Swami Prabhupada ji and Lord RadhaKrishna ji in America.
You probably know more than me…it is for people who may not be aware of what kind of stuff is there in their food.
Hare Krishna Tushar
Yes. In the Kali-yuga the demons are trying to destroy everything. This vitamin D3 in milk is only done in the US as far as I am aware and they have been doing it for a very long time, even when Srila Prabhupada was physically present. This question was brought to Srila Prabhupada and he said basically, what can we do, we have to offer milk to Krishna. So in the cities of the US where one has no other alternative then we have to offer this D3 milk to Krishna. But it is not the best. The best thing is that we should have Krishna farms and Krishna’s cows and milk them ourselves and that would solve the problem.
As far as the cheese it should be avoided. Most of it has rennet in it. There is no problem to avoid it. We can make curd, fresh cheese, from milk with no problems at all.
We want to offer Krishna natural things, and when they start making genetic modifications to plants they become unnatural. So we need to try to avoid offering all unnatural things to Krishna. So we need to avoid genetically modified anything. That is possible at the moment and we can only deal with the current time. The future we will deal with in the future…
As far as vegan food it would be horribly offensive to offer vegan food to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. Krishna is so fond of the cows and a big reason for this is that the cows give milk and from milk so many delicious foodstuffs are prepared. Krishna’s whole activity is as a cowherd boy. And Krishna’s cows are milking cows. So His whole activity is looking after the cows and getting milk from the cows and stealing and eating the butter and milk and yoghurt from his mother and her friends… So Krishna is very, very, very fond of milk and milk products so we have to offer Krishna milk and milk products if we want to please him.
Also for us it is essential that we take milk and milk products because there is a miracle in milk. Milk contains ingredients that allow one to cultivate the finer tissues in the brain that make spiritual understanding possible. So without taking milk one can not develop these finer tissues in the brain and cannot become Krishna conscious. So milk is called liquid religion. Veganism is absolute nonsense. It is not a practical diet. They use vegetable oils that are very unhealthy and they use soy products that are very, very unhealthy and it is a completely unsatisfying and unnatural diet. And Prabhupada and Krishna are not vegans so if you want to please them you can not offer them vegan food….
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!!!
Please accept my humble obeisances
I have a question about foods being offered, If I open a half gallon of milk and offer some of it, like a cup, then put it away, can I take another cup later on and offer it again? How about other supplies like yogurt? May we take a small quantity from a larger quantity and offer a small bit at a time? You said that once some part of something is offered then it all becomes prasadam does this only apply to prepared dishes or single ingredient items also?
Please forgive me if I am not explaining well.
Thank you, Haribol
Hare Krishna Matthew
Yes. You can do that. If you have a gallon of milk and only want to offer a cup or so to Krishna at a time you can do that. Or you can offer the cup and consider all the milk offered. But you can not offer milk without boiling it first. And milk is always taken hot. So whatever you take out of the bottle and put in the pot to heat up you would consider offered and the rest of the bottle in the fridge is still not offered.
You can do the same thing with yogurt, vegetables, etc. You can take one or two carrots out of a bag and put them in a subji you are cooking for Krishna and the subji in the pot is offered to Krishna and the rest of the carrots are not…
You know what you are offering to Krishna and He also knows…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Dandwat pranam, PAMHO, AGTSP
very nice post plz send the pdf versions of these post if possible so v can compile them as e-letters
PAMHA, GLORY TO SRI SRI GURUDEV AND TO SRILA PRABUPADA.
Please , can you clarify , when it states devotees of the Lord , does this imply only initiated devotees , ore aspiring devotees or followers of non initiated devotees.
If an initiated devotee , his wife follow the regulative principles but isnt initiated herself , can she cooked or prepared food to be offered for the lordship. please clarify
Hare Krishna Prabhu
It does not matter if one is initiated or not. Krishna doesn’t really care about that. If your wife likes to cook for Krishna and understands she is cooking for Krishna and you will offer the bhoga to Krishna then she can cook for Krishna even though she is not formally initiated.
For a wife anyhow her husband is her natural guru. So if the husband is initiated then really his wife is serving him and he is the natural guru for his wife.
So Prabhu certainly your wife can cook for Krishna and you can offer the bhoga to Krishna and together you can honor the Krishna prasadam!
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna prabhuji ,
I wanted to know the shloka in Gita wherein lord shree Krishna
Tells us to follow strick vegetarian diet . Actually when i ask my nonvegeterian friends
To refrain from flesh eating , they ask me as to where is it written !!
I fail to give them an answer for this !
Please help !
Hari bol !
|| Hare Krsna ||
Hare Krishna Rahul
It is pointless to preach on the point of vegetarianism. Even if your friends become vegetarians vegetarianism is not the cause of Krishna consciousness or spiritual life. On the other hand, if one becomes a devotee of Krishna then he automatically becomes a vegetarian because he only wants to eat Krishna prasadam and Krishna only accepts offerings in the mode of goodness [fruits, vegetables, grains, milk products].
People who are eating meat do not care about what Krishna wants them to do or what Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita. The way to preach to such people is not by philosophy or preaching them to become vegetarians. It is done by feeding them with Krishna prasadam, getting them to chant Hare Krishna, getting them to hear the pure devotees chanting Hare Krishna, and getting them to read Srila Prabhupada’s books.
Then when they become purified by hearing from Prabhupada, by hearing and chanting the Hare Krishna mantra and by Krishna prasadam then they will automatically only accept prasadam. Devotees are not vegetarians. Devotees only accept Krishna prasadam.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Haribol from the altar it is called mahaprasadam, and dont mix it with theprasadam in pots! Sometimes people trow away the leftovers and in that way they also trow away the maha prasadam a big aparadha. Your servant in this.
Hare Krishna Bhakta Pieter
You do not know these things. There is no difference between the prasadam on the plates on the alter and the prasadam that Krishna also tastes in the cooking pots. There is no difference in throwing away maha prasadam and maha prasadam that is in the cooking pots. Throwing away prasadam should be avoided in all cases. If it is from the pots or from the plates on the alter. Still it can not be disrespected. Of course the devotees have a sentiment for getting the prasadam that comes off the plates on the alter but really there is absolutely no difference between that prasadam and the prasadam in the cooking pots the Krishna also tastes. So it can be mixed or it can be kept separate and the prasadam from the alter can be distributed as ‘maha prasadam’.
You are trying to make differentiations in prasadam. It is not possible. It is either prasadam or not prasadam. If it is prasadam it is transcendental and non-different from Krishna, if it comes from the cooking pots or if it comes from the plates on the alter Krishna accepted it all and it is all prasadam…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
this is really a very heavy mail to digest….. what all is written is true … atleast in my case. I just want to enquire whether sweets brought from market should not be offered? and u told that we should cook for krishna…. but how can we know what should be cooked daily…..as normally we cook as per our requirement … offer it to krishna….and then accept it as prasadam….
Hare Krishna Monika
Yes. The quantity you cook has to be the quantity of Krishna prasadam you can distribute obviously. So you have to just use your common sense in this regard.
As far as offering purchased sweets to Krishna it is not a very good practice particularly these days as you can not guarantee anything about how the sweets were prepared or the consciousness of the people who cooked them.
It is far better to cook sweets yourself and offer them to Krishna. It is not very difficult and if you really cook them for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna they will accept them and you will get real Prasadam sweets…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna
Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada
I am the only krishna devotee in my family,and everyday is a challenge for me as they do not like the changes they see in me as i am becoming very close with Krishna.My cousins are in the krishna community as well,but their parents accepted it in a positive manner compare to my parents.I would love to show my love to krishna by offering him the food and eat his prasadams,but how would i make my family members understand that i am doing the right thing without them thinking i am going insane.
hare krishna madhudvisa ji….
one of the most important article, many people dont know the proper procedure of offering even if they are cooking for krishna with love and i am one of them.
i want to ask if i am cooking for krishna so that the prasadam would be sufficient for, say 4-5 member, after offering to krishna in krishna’s plate/bowl/glass and then mix it with the utensil on which I have cooked, will it convert the whole food items that i prepared in to prasadam?
i am vey poor at cooking and i never used to like cooking but recently started cooking for krishna without onion and garlic, so that krishna’s prasadam shall have some impact on my family as they are not krishna conscious nor m i. but i am interested.
Hare Krishna Sonika
Yes. It is an important point. When you offer the plate to Krishna on the alter Krishna actually tastes all the food that is still in the cooking pots also. It is sometimes done as you suggest, taking the prasadam from the plate that was offered to Krishna on the alter and mixing that with the prasadam in the pots, that is a nice system, but even if you do not do this Krishna has still tasted the prasadam in the pots and the whole batch of cooking becomes prasadam, not just the portion on the plate that you offered on the alter.
It is very good to hear that you are cooking for Krishna and you will of course become a better cook and Krishna will give you the intelligence how to serve Him nicely.
It does not matter if we think we are good or bad at something, if we are doing it for Krishna He will help us and it will come out very nicely.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
When one is out on the road constantly, it is probably better to not eat at all, but that’s not practical. 🙁
You just have to make an arrangement to eat prasadam, otherwise you will be eating sin, you will become sinful and you will not be able to become Krishna conscious and your life will be spoiled.
You can cook on the road. That is what I do. I am on the road all the time but I am cooking every day for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and that way I only eat Krishna prasadam. So if I can cook for Krishna on the road you can also cook for Krishna on the road.
If by chance you can not cook you can purchase some fruit, yogurt, milk, etc. And you can offer Krishna the fruit and yoghurt or whatever and in that way take Prasadam.
But we can never eat anything cooked by a non-devotee otherwise we will become non-devotees ourselves. This is a very powerful thing. I have the practical personal experience myself. You just think “I can eat this, it will be OK”. But it is never OK. We always get the sin. Of course sometimes you may have to eat something but that will not save us from eating the sin and will not save us from the reaction. If we eat the sin we will become sinful…
You have to make an arrangement. Like Srila Prabhupada, when he came to the US he was not sure if he would be able to get anything that he could offer to Krishna, so he came with some very big bags of grains, so if he was not able to find anything to offer to Krishna he was prepared to just soo ak those grains and eat them. Of course he was able to get vegetables and rice and dhal and cook himself in the US. But he did not eat anything cooked by anyone else. Even on the boat he was cooking for Krishna himself and at the Aggrawals house in Buttler he was cooking for Krishna and for the family there. So the point is that Prabhupada is a pure devotee of Krishna and he never deviated on this principle of only taking Krishna prasadam so we can not expect to become devotees if we do not surrender to this basic principle and only accept foodstuffs that have been cooked by devotees and offered to Krishna with love.
Otherwise we will remain nondevotees. We can not become a devotee if we continue to eat food that is not prasadam…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa