Offering food to Krishna

[Jainarayan]

This was written to me regarding my preparations for Janmashtami last month. As usual I am confused, though I abided by the advice, and took my chances that what I offered was not nasty tasting:

"I hope you do intend to offer these dishes to Krishna first? In which case you cannot taste them. He gets to taste and smell it first. We offer naivedya, then eat prasad of what He leaves for us."

What I made was a very sweet coconut rice pudding, a very sweet cream of wheat, sweet yogurt, fruits. Naturally, none of what I made or offered had any eggs or other animal products other than dairy.

My confusion is in that, when preparing proper foods for the Lord and you cannot taste it as you are preparing it, how do you know if it comes out "crappy" and is not fit to offer?

When cooking for our families we don't just throw ingredients into a pot and hope for the best. We taste, season, and adjust. When it's right, to the best of our determination, we serve it. Shouldn't it be all the more important to make sure that what we offer to Krishna is perfect?

 

[kaisersose]

Again, I think you are getting bogged down by rules. It is the intent that matters, not the specific procedure. Do it your way and you should be fine.

 

[Madhuri]

I agree with Kaisersose. Krishna emphasises in the Gita that an offering made with love is more important than anything.
The idea of offering is that once the food is presented to God, then it is good for you to eat.
But on the other hand, the main point of these rituals is the cultivation or development of devotional consciousness through service.

As for your thought about necessity of tasting, God does not really need to eat and is not literally eating the food (imo). Getting the food perfect is more important for the people who are going to eat it afterward.

 

[Jainarayan]

Again, I think you are getting bogged down by rules. It is the intent that matters, not the specific procedure. Do it your way and you should be fine.

I agree with Kaisersose. Krishna emphasises in the Gita that an offering made with love is more important than anything.
The idea of offering is that once the food is presented to God, then it is good for you to eat.
But on the other hand, the main point of these rituals is the cultivation or development of devotional consciousness through service.

As for your thought about necessity of tasting, God does not really need to eat and is not literally eating the food (imo). Getting the food perfect is more important for the people who are going to eat it afterward.

Thanks.

Well, this is all what I thought. Please understand that a lot of what I ask comes from some people who go by the "letter of the law, and not the spirit of it". And being a neophyte, I'm prone to getting caught up in the "O my God! You can't do that! Krishna will kill you!"

I know Lord Krishna is said to have had an extreme sweet tooth, so I thought rice pudding would be a nice offering. I love commercial rice pudding, but it has eggs, which I would never offer. And btw, my sweets came out so good I wanted to sign them.

Before I became "aware", I offered a commercial yogurt that I later realized had gelatin in it. Now I am more aware of labels. I can live with that, but I thought the preparing but not tasting was a little on the silly side.

 

[Vinayaka]

I remember someone asking my Guru about tasting food before feeding it to Guru. He laughed and then said jokingly. "If you're feeding it to me, you'd better taste it first!"

 

[Chewbarker1054]

I remember someone asking my Guru about tasting food before feeding it to Guru. He laughed and then said jokingly. "If you're feeding it to me, you'd better taste it first!"

I think you Guru has a good point!:clap

 

[Chewbarker1054]

"I hope you do intend to offer these dishes to Krishna first? In which case you cannot taste them. He gets to taste and smell it first. We offer naivedya, then eat prasad of what He leaves for us."
/quote]


From what I have seen in the Hindu Community and practise at home the food it always tasted and then before being served it offered to the Gods.

 

[Vinayaka]

There's a huge difference between tasting for quality and being a glutton while you cook.

 

[Jainarayan]

From what I have seen in the Hindu Community and practise at home the food it always tasted and then before being served it offered to the Gods.

It only makes sense. :yes:

There's a huge difference between tasting for quality and being a glutton while you cook.

Or as my mother used to say "you're eating the profits" when all but finishing the food while it was being prepared and before it was served.

 

[Bob Dixon]

Why can't you taste the food you offer to God?

 

[Vinayaka]

Bob, the principle is simple: Put God first. For sure in Hinduism, if you offer a flower, you're not supposed to smell it up close. (You can't really help if its a particularly strong scent and its just wafting around) This is different than food of course, where the tasting is a check. We can usually assume that the flowers haven't been wrecked by poor cooking.

But the principle is the same .. place god ahead of yourself, which of course really means placing the inner you (God) first in Mind. Its a humbling quality.

 

[Me Myself]

I think tasting it and to keep building it while you are at it offers more value to it.

In that you put love into what you are doing because you are making sure it becomes the best it can become for Krishna ^-^

That said, what ever is more helpfull to you so you feel you are putting all your love into your offering ^-^

Blessings

 

[Bob Dixon]

Bob, the principle is simple: Put God first. For sure in Hinduism, if you offer a flower, you're not supposed to smell it up close. (You can't really help if its a particularly strong scent and its just wafting around) This is different than food of course, where the tasting is a check. We can usually assume that the flowers haven't been wrecked by poor cooking.

But the principle is the same .. place god ahead of yourself, which of course really means placing the inner you (God) first in Mind. Its a humbling quality.

True enough.

But at the same time, the previous posters are right in that you certainly don't want to serve God a crappy meal.

I guess it's one of those things that each person must reason out for himself.

 

[Jainarayan]

... if you offer a flower, you're not supposed to smell it up close.

I have almost no sense of smell, so that's not a problem. :angel2:

Also, you're not supposed to offer flowers that have fallen on the ground, nor just throw them in the garbage after they die. I take them and put them under the bushes around my house. This returns them to the Earth in a more respectful way.

I think tasting it and to keep building it while you are at it offers more value to it.

That's what I thought, and couldn't understand why you wouldn't.

 

[Gaura Priya]

This was written to me regarding my preparations for Janmashtami last month. As usual I am confused, though I abided by the advice, and took my chances that what I offered was not nasty tasting:

"I hope you do intend to offer these dishes to Krishna first? In which case you cannot taste them. He gets to taste and smell it first. We offer naivedya, then eat prasad of what He leaves for us."

What I made was a very sweet coconut rice pudding, a very sweet cream of wheat, sweet yogurt, fruits. Naturally, none of what I made or offered had any eggs or other animal products other than dairy.

My confusion is in that, when preparing proper foods for the Lord and you cannot taste it as you are preparing it, how do you know if it comes out "crappy" and is not fit to offer?

When cooking for our families we don't just throw ingredients into a pot and hope for the best. We taste, season, and adjust. When it's right, to the best of our determination, we serve it. Shouldn't it be all the more important to make sure that what we offer to Krishna is perfect?

At least what I've learned in traditional Gaudiya Vaishnavism, there is the external rule that when one is preparing some foodstuff for Sri Guru, Mahaprabhu and Krishna, we should not taste it prior to offering. This is underlying the concept that food before it is offered is bhoga ('enjoyment'), and by not tasting it, we are not making this preparation for our own enjoyment, but for the Lord's enjoyment, and for those of His devotees.

It takes alot of practice to learn how to cook without tasting it. When I make a formal offering, sometimes I will just offer it, and then after offering I will add more salt depending on its taste. Sometimes in the very kitchen, I will take a spoonful, mutter the Mahamantra under my breath, and then taste it, and then make the formal offering.

The importance does not lie in the rule and regulation, but the consciousness behind it. It teaches restraint from tasting or doing anything for our own personal satisfaction, and to remind us that everything should be done for the Lord.

In Srila Narayana Maharaja's Gita, he translates:

"Spiritual persons partaking of vegetarian remnants offered in sacrifice unto the Supreme Lord get relief from all varieties of sins; but those who prepare food for their own consumption, those sinners eat only sin."

-- Bhagavad Gita 3.13

Even under a traditional exigesis, since even plants also are the embodiments of jivatma, spiritual souls who have reincarnated into plant form, killing them is a form of murder. So by offering them to the Lord, the sinful reactions from that 'murder' is taken away.

"O Arjuna, whatever actions you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice, whatever you give in charity, whatever austerities you perform, all that you do; make as an offering unto Me."

-- Bhagavad Gita 9.27

The most important is your consciousness while you are cooking. When I cook for the Lord, I also like to play nice spiritual music, such as Krishna-kirtana. But I also think of Vidura's wife. Generally, all food is offered to the Lord; when Vidura's wife saw Lord Krishna, she was in complete ecstasy and love, that as she was offering Krishna bananas, she ate the bananas and gave Him the banana peels. Vidura was mad when he came home and heard this, and Krishna gently reminded him that out of the love that was made manifest from His devotee, He was so charmed by her devotion that He Himself ate the banana peels.

Then there is the pastime of Lord Ramachandra (I'm not sure, someone correct me if I misinform), where a woman, out of desire to feed Lord Rama the best, first ate the food by nibbling it to see if it tasted good, and then personally feeding the rest of it to the Lord. Lakshmana, His brother, was astonished by this. But the meaning was that although there is formality, despite such formalities the Lord may go beyond that in order for His devotee to be pleased.

So don't become a fanatic, but the rules and regulations also have a hidden meaning behind them all. As a traditional 'orthodox' Hindu, I try not to be a fanatic. Orthodoxy does not have to be burdening, lol. For example, even if you can not make a formal offering on the altar, still offer your vegetarian foodstuffs by using your consciousness in manasa-puja (offer from the mind), chanting over it the Mahamantra, or "Sri Vishnu, Sri Vishnu, Sri Vishnu," or "Sri Krishna, Sri Krishna, Sri Krishna", or even "Lord Krishna, please accept these french fries." Prasadam and eating prasadam is also participating in a yagna (sacrifice), and Lord Vishnu is the Lord of all sacrifices, Adi-yagna.

We teach the children to chant the Mahamantra thrice, and then say "Lord Krishna, please accept this ___" before eating. Formalities aside, as long as you offer in love and devotion, the Lord will accept it, even if your cooking is crappy, lol.

Hare Krishna!

 

[Jainarayan]

....and by not tasting it, we are not making this preparation for our own enjoyment, but for the Lord's enjoyment, and for those of His devotees.

...

It teaches restraint from tasting or doing anything for our own personal satisfaction, and to remind us that everything should be done for the Lord.

...

Formalities aside, as long as you offer in love and devotion, the Lord will accept it, even if your cooking is crappy, lol.
Hare Krishna!

Agreed, in that we shouldn't be nibbling on it as we're going along because we like what we're making.

And it's true that the Lord doesn't need to eat, we're offering it as a form of devotion or worship, and should do it the best we can. So I can see it from that view also. Some people can burn water when they cook, but I guess that doesn't stop them from offering it to the Lord if they do it with love.

 

[Gaura Priya]

Agreed, in that we shouldn't be nibbling on it as we're going along because we like what we're making.

And it's true that the Lord doesn't need to eat, we're offering it as a form of devotion or worship, and should do it the best we can. So I can see it from that view also. Some people can burn water when they cook, but I guess that doesn't stop them from offering it to the Lord if they do it with love.

As long as you remember Lord Vishnu / Krishna while you cook, and offer it to Him with love and devotion, it should be no problem.

Hare Krishna!

 

[Jainarayan]

Yes, good point. He is always in my mind.

 

[Gaura Priya]

Yes, good point. He is always in my mind.

You're making me hungry.

A teen from the younger generation of Vaishnavas told me,

"Since Krishna's the fire of digestion [from the Gita], anything I put in my mouth and into my stomach is offered to Krishna! :yes:"

:slap:


....Hold on... how can people burn water...?

 

[Jainarayan]

....Hold on... how can people burn water...?

You can't... that's an old joke about some people being such bad cooks they could even burn water. Or the associated joke... "I'm such a bad cook I can't even boil water".