CLEOPATRA JONES poster
The Black 6
by
Swami B. G. Narasingha
Krsna Talk No. 35
Devotee: In a recent Krsna Talk you mentioned that we should appreciate prasadam more deeply, but I have also heard you say that everything called 'prasadam' may not actually be prasadam. This seems to be inconsistent, so can you please explain this more clearly?
Swami Narasingha: There are gradations in all things, prasadam included. There are many things to consider. It is easy to say it is prasadam because it comes from a 'temple,' but in fact the offering may not have been accepted by Krsna.
In the Hyderbad temple it so happened that Srila Prabhupada once asked to taste the prasadam that was being distributed to the guests. When he tasted the prasadam he was upset and he called for the leaders of the temple. He asked them, "What is this?" To which they replied, "It is prasadam Srila Prabhupada." Then to everyone's dismay Srila Prabhupada said, "This is not prasadam, this is garbage! You cannot offer just anything to Krsna. Krsna is not a garbage disposal."
It was discovered that the cook was not a qualified Vaishnava and he was then removed from that service. Srila Prabhupada did not forget about that incident for a long time. A few days later while taking prasadam in the home of Sri Bogilal Patel, a prominent life member, Srila Prabhupada commented to Bogilal that, "These boys eat garbage. Before I came they ate all garbage."
There had been a controversy in the Hyderbad temple for some time and some of the devotees were saying that the 'prasadam' was not actually prasadam. Something was wrong and some devotees could sense that. But, whoever said that was called an offender. Later when Srila Prabhupada gave his opinion they were of course vindicated. [Editors Note: The devotee who had pointed out to the temple president that the offerings were improper was Swami B. G. Narasingha]
The offerings in the Hyderbad temple had not been prepared properly and therefore the offerings were not accepted by Krsna. Many things are required for the preparation of an offering to Krsna. The consciousness of the cook is very important in preparing an offering. The consciousness of the one who makes the offering is also important and also the consciousness of the person distributing the prasadam and also the consciousness of the person taking the prasadam is important.
If one takes prasadam of the Deity but does so in the mood of enjoyment then he does not get the full benefit of prasadam, but rather he falls victim to his senses. This has been explained by Srila Prabhupada as follows:
"However, if one accepts prasada only because of its palatable taste and thus eats too much, he also falls prey to trying to satisfy the demands of the tongue. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu taught us to avoid very palatable dishes even while eating prasadam. If we offer palatable dishes to the Deity with the intention of eating such nice food, we are involved in trying to satisfy the demands of the tongue. In Caitanya-caritamrta (Antya 6.227) it is stated:
jihavara lalase yei iti-uti dhaya
sisnodara-parayana krsna nahi paya
'That person who runs here and there seeking to gratify his palate and who is always attached to the desires of his stomach and genitals is unable to attain Krsna.'"
Even the selling of bona fide prasadam may be an offense against prasadam. The accepted tradition is that a temple may sell maha-prasadam to the temple visitors and the revenues from those sales are to be directly utilized in the service of the Deity. However, if the prasadam is sold to a third party who in turn sells the prasadam for a profit and uses that revenue for material sense gratification then an offense to prasadam is created.
the above was an excert from the following informative site ~
http://www.gosai.com/chaitanya/ashrama/links/more-on-prasadam-fs.html
:)
