Message of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji in Bhakti TV Program telecast on April 26, 2020 – Mysore
Compiled by: Jaya Akkanapragada
Jaya Guru Datta. We were talking about naivédyam, and in between we discussed hunger and so many other things. Eating food without remembering the one who gave life to us, the one who took care of us when we were in great difficulties, and the ones who are giving us food, is a great sin. Since it is Paramātma who is protecting us all, naivédyam is offered. Many of Swamiji’s devotees offer the first cup of coffee to Swamiji before drinking it. That is also naivédyam. The act which prevents dōśās from sticking to us is naivédyam.
“O Swami, it is only because of Your Grace that we have worked hard and earned this food. No matter how hard we worked, if you did not ripen the crop, we would not have this food. We are offering this food to you and partaking of this prasādam. May this food give us energy and strength. May we become wise and be able to discern between right and wrong. May we develop śraddha on the spiritual path. Bless us so that we do not commit sins, and only undertake karmās which bestow merit.” Thus praying, one should partake of the naivédyam as nectar.
The laddu offered as naivédyam is very valuable as opposed to the laddu in the kitchen. If 20 laddus are offered as naivédyam to Swami, they are mixed with the remaining 10,000 laddus prepared so that no one knows which one was offered as naivédyam. This is also to signify that Swami has accepted all the laddus prepared, and they all become prasādam now. This is why the Tirupati laddu tastes so good, because it is offered as naivédyam to Venkata Ramana Swami.
The One who created mankind bestowed yagñās as a boon for people to invoke the dévatās. May mankind and dévatās always pray for each-others’ well-being and happiness.
ištān bhōgān hi vō dévāha dāsyanté yagña bhāvitāha
tairdattā na pradāyaibhyaha yō bhunkté sténa éva saha – Bhagavad Gita 3.12
The deities who are invoked during yagña bless people with all the necessities of life. One who enjoys these gifts without offering them to the dévatās in return, is known as a thief.
You don’t have to do anything. Just offer the food before you eat it, to the photo of Swami on your wall and pray “Swami, please come and share this food with me.” That is enough. If you are a devotee of God, you must think of God before you eat. “Swami, I woke up this morning, and you have given me this food today to stay alive. Please bless me and make me do good work with the nourishment I receive. Give me good strength.”
Why is it so difficult to offer thanks to Paramātma for the food received? We thank even a peon in the office for a small help. Should we not offer at least one namaskāra to the Swami who is protecting us and giving us food, clothing and shelter? Were you born on your own? Do you think yourself so independent that if your mother had not taken care of you, you would have survived as a child?
Who gave your mother and father the buddhi to care for you? Who gave your teacher the buddhi to teach you? Today if you are eating food, who gave the buddhi to the one who prepared this food for you? if your mother, wife or sister had made the food bitter, would you be able to eat it? Is the food not delicious? Then should you not thank Paramātma? After eating, you must mentally thank the one who gave you this food saying annadāta sukhībhava – may they be happy.
We must think of the puja we perform as a yagña, and the naivédyam prepared at home as an offering to the yagña. We may not be performing yagñās, but eating food is also a yagña.
yagña śiśtāśinas santaha mucyanté sarva kilbiśaihi
bhunjaté té tvagham pāpāha yé pacantyātma kārańāt – Bhagavad Gita 3.13
The devotee who eats food only after it is offered to the yagña is released from all sins. Those who prepare food only for their themselves and eat are sinners. They are eating sin.
nivédana mihāsmākam amśō nirmalanam tvayī
This sloka in Yādavādbhutéyam says O Swami when we offer naivédyam to You, You accept our offering and take care of all our activities and needs.
Naivédyam has to be offered with the utmost bhakti. Only one who lacks devotion would make fun and question naivédyam, the Purāńās and the Bhagavad Gita. If they knew about these things, or knew the meaning of the Bhagavad Gita slokas, they would revere them. The people who criticize the Śāstrās, Védās, Purāńās, Bhagavad Gita and the Upaniśads – are all lazy people who do not know anything about them.
The fox tries very hard to jump and reach the grapevine. When it cannot get the grapes, it tells the other foxes also not to bother since the grapes are very sour. But if the same fox is able to eat the grapes, it will invite the other foxes also to eat them. The grapes are actually sour, but because they are within reach, they are delicious.
patram puśpam phalam tōyam yō mé bhaktyā prayacchati
tad aham bhaktyupahrutam aśnāmi prayatātmanaha – Bhagavad Gita 9.26
In this sloka, Paramātma says I accept even a leaf, flower, fruit or water offered with devotion.
Even the water you drink, offer it to Paramātma, and then have it. Many people are finding it so hard to find clean drinking water. When we get mineral water we must thank Him. It is only when we offer anything with bhakti, that He accepts it. Otherwise, we are merely offering and eating. Whatever is prepared as naivédyam should also be prepared with bhakti.
One might ask how much should be prepared. There is no way to answer this question. Actually speaking, there is not enough food in all this world to offer the One who is all pervading. there is also no person in this world who can offer it. Védam has a beautiful answer for this. “Do not feel bad that you cannot offer what is needed by Bhagavan. Just offer whatever you prepare with the utmost devotion. Bhagavan will accept the amount that He needs, and give fruit equivalent to it.”
If you recollect the story of Bhakti Kannappa, he offered meat to the Śivalinga. God accepts whatever we offer with bhakti. In Tamil, cooked rice is known as sādam. If one eats without offering to God, it is known as sādam, but if the same rice is offered to God, it becomes prasādam. Naivédyam makes annam into paramānnam or paramāmrutam. Partaking of naivédyam nourishes us and gives us good health.
For each festival, the prescribed naivédyam to be prepared is suited to the weather conditions and includes the seasonal fruits, vegetables and ingredients available at that time. For example, Ugādi comes during Chaitra māsam. The ugādi pacchadi which is prepared then includes raw mango and neem flower which are in season only then. Along with these, lime, tamarind, jaggery are also mixed to create a mix of 6 tastes – sweet, salty, sour, bitter, spicy and astringent.
In some regions, they do not use lime, in some other regions instead of jaggery, sugarcane juice is used. Only after offering this pacchadi to Paramātma, do people partake of it as prasādam. It is ideally good to consume this pacchadi for the entire fortnight or month. Since this is not possible, the elders ensured that everyone has the pacchadi at least on this day by making it a tradition.
Then on Navami, to celebrate Sri Rama’s birthday, pānakam, buttermilk and kōsāmbari or vadapappu (made from soaking split green gram in water) are offered as naivédyam. At this time, the weather is very hot in India, so these 3 items which are prepared help cool the body.
For Narasimha Jayanti, pānakam, a preparation with jackfruit and hayagrīvam are offered. These aid in increasing the heat in the body. These are all very dear to Narasimha Swami. Similarly, during āśāda māsam, different naivédya is prepared every day and offered to Mother Goddess. Only women partake of this prasādam because it is suited for their body and extremely good for their health.
During śrāvana māsam, Varalakshmi vratam is performed, and the food prepared then is suited to the rainy season. For Vināyaka Chaviti, nature is revered and worshipped. Just then rice is harvested, and the grains from the new crop are first offered to Swami. From that day onwards, the new rice grains are used by everyone. By then since the rains have also abated, our bodies will be able to digest such food.
Then comes Navrātri, when on each of the 9 days different types of rice preparations are offered to Mother Goddess. Some people who observe fast on these 9 days, do not eat rice, but everyone else eats these rice preparations which give good health and the energy needed to perform rituals the next day.
On Deepāvali, naivédyam involves preparing various flour-based dishes. Similarly, during kārtīka māsam, certainly foods must be prepared which are very beneficial during that season. During dhanur māsam, Vaishnava traditions are followed to prepare naivédyam. These preparations include a lot of pepper and cumin to prevent health problems such as cough which are prevalent in winter.
The naivédya specific to each festival must be prepared and eaten as prasādam since it acts as a medicine for that season in India. Nowadays no one has the bhakti or interest in eating such items. There are some people in villages who still follow all these practices. Some of these people have never been to a hospital in their life! They only administer home remedies and live very healthy lives.
If you carry out a survey, you will see they are all hale and healthy and in their 80’s, 90’s. some are even 100 years old. They will not even take a pill for a headache. If you ask them why, they will simply remark “that is all useless. I’ll prepare a concoction and give you now. You see how well it works!” The migraine or ailment which was bothering us for so long, and which did not go away no matter how many medicines we tried, now goes away in a jiffy with the kashāyam which the old lady offers us.
Most of the people nowadays cannot stay at home in spite of the authorities enforcing a lockdown. Do you all have wheels on your feet? Can you not sit quietly in one place? I know many of you do the same thing at work. You reach the office, and immediately go out for tea. Then you sit for some time, and again go out for lunch. Even people who work in factories do this. They keep stepping out to take long breaks. I don’t know what work you all are doing. You are so used to this routine, now you keep complaining that you are under house arrest, and keep criticizing the government.
Now is not the time for politics. Everyone must be careful about their health. Look at the state America is in right now. Many people in Andhra Pradesh have relatives in the US, and are worried if they will hear bad news about them. It is only to keep all these people at home that I have programs every day on Facebook Live.
Stay at home, read a good book, watch TV, spend time teaching your kids some nice useful lessons, do some exercise, yoga, prāńāyāma and follow a diet to lose weight. Earlier, you would just eat in a hurry and rush out of the house saying you have no time for exercise. Now since you are not moving much, you can eat less and if you exercise, you can easily become slim.
If you plant fruit-bearing trees in your garden, and see it give fruit, it will give you so much happiness. You will take a picture of it both before and after plucking it, and feel so happy sharing it with others. Now if you show the same fruit to Swamiji’s photo and eat, even the sour fruit will be so delicious. Once we offer naivédyam, we eat with our mind.
If you have a cough, do not assume it is Corona. Everyone gets a cough twice a year, so it can be a normal cough. But if fever persists, then you may have to see a doctor. Do not be afraid of what the doctor will do. They cannot quarantine you in the hospital. They do not have so many beds there. The doctor will just ask you to be at home for 14 days and self-quarantine, maintaining distance from everyone.
We can stay at home and pray. This is a good time for students to spend time studying. Revise your old books. Improve your English and second language. If you learn Hindi, you can travel all over India. If you learn English, you can travel around the entire world. This is a good time to learn these two languages.
Children in lower grades have been promoted to the next class. Those of you in higher grades, do not be afraid. They will promote you also. Elderly people should listen to good music now and write poetry. Do not be afraid and do not curse the doctors or talk ill about the officials who come home to conduct surveys. This is not good.
I will continue talking about naivédyam in the next episode as well.
Jaya Guru Datta.