The party, including the Lord, went for a bath in the sea, and the Bhaṭṭācārya arranged for their residence and meals at the house of Kāśī Miśra. Gopīnātha Ācārya, his brother-in-law, also assisted. There were some friendly talks about the Lord's divinity between the two brothers-in-law, and in this argument Gopīnātha Ācārya, who knew the Lord before, now tried to establish the Lord as the Personality of Godhead, and the Bhaṭṭācārya tried to establish Him as one of the great devotees. Both of them argued from the angle of vision of authentic śāstras and not on the strength of sentimental vox populi. The incarnations of God are determined by authentic śāstras and not by popular votes of foolish fanatics. Because Lord Caitanya was an incarnation of God in fact, foolish fanatics have proclaimed so many so-called incarnations of God in this age without referring to authentic scriptures. But Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya or Gopīnātha Ācārya did not indulge in such foolish sentimentalism; on the contrary, both of them tried to establish or reject His divinity on the strength of authentic śāstras.
Meals (Books)
Bhagavad-gita As It Is
BG Chapters 7 - 12
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Time I am, the great destroyer of the worlds, and I have come here to destroy all people. With the exception of you (the Pāṇḍavas), all the soldiers here on both sides will be slain.
Although Arjuna knew that Kṛṣṇa was his friend and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he was puzzled by the various forms exhibited by Kṛṣṇa. Therefore he asked further about the actual mission of this devastating force. It is written in the Vedas that the Supreme Truth destroys everything, even the brāhmaṇas. As stated in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad (1.2.25),
- yasya brahma ca kṣatraṁ ca
- ubhe bhavata odanaḥ
- mṛtyur yasyopasecanaṁ
- ka itthā veda yatra saḥ
Eventually all the brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas and everyone else are devoured like a meal by the Supreme. This form of the Supreme Lord is the all-devouring giant, and here Kṛṣṇa presents Himself in that form of all-devouring time. Except for a few Pāṇḍavas, everyone who was present on that battlefield would be devoured by Him. Arjuna was not in favor of the fight, and he thought it was better not to fight; then there would be no frustration. In reply, the Lord is saying that even if he did not fight, every one of them would be destroyed, for that was His plan. If Arjuna stopped fighting, they would die in another way. Death could not be checked, even if he did not fight. In fact, they were already dead. Time is destruction, and all manifestations are to be vanquished by the desire of the Supreme Lord. That is the law of nature.
BG Chapters 13 - 18
Remnants of food may be eaten only when they are part of a meal that was first offered to the Supreme Lord or first eaten by saintly persons, especially the spiritual master. Otherwise the remnants of food are considered to be in the mode of darkness, and they increase infection or disease. Such foodstuffs, although very palatable to persons in the mode of darkness, are neither liked nor even touched by those in the mode of goodness. The best food is the remnants of what is offered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In Bhagavad-gītā the Supreme Lord says that He accepts preparations of vegetables, flour and milk when offered with devotion. Patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyam. Of course, devotion and love are the chief things which the Supreme Personality of Godhead accepts. But it is also mentioned that the prasādam should be prepared in a particular way. Any food prepared by the injunctions of the scripture and offered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead can be taken even if prepared long, long ago, because such food is transcendental. Therefore to make food antiseptic, eatable and palatable for all persons, one should offer food to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Preface and Introduction
At Mathurā, the Lord visited all the important places; then He reached Vṛndāvana. Lord Caitanya appeared in the family of a high-caste brāhmaṇa, and over and above that as sannyāsī He was the preceptor for all the varṇas and āśramas. But He used to accept meals from all classes of Vaiṣṇavas. At Mathurā the Sanoḍiyā brāhmaṇas are considered to be in the lower status of society, but the Lord accepted meals in the family of such a brāhmaṇa also because His host happened to be a disciple of the Mādhavendra Purī family.
SB Canto 1
Draupadī was gained in this Pāñcāladeśa by Arjuna, but by order of Kuntī all five of the Pāṇḍava brothers became equally the husbands of Pāñcālī, or Draupadī. She was married with five Pāṇḍavas in the presence of Vyāsadeva. Kuntīdevī never forgot her first child, Karṇa, and after Karṇa's death in the Battle of Kurukṣetra she lamented and admitted before her other sons that Karṇa was her eldest son prior to her marriage with Mahārāja Pāṇḍu. Her prayers for the Lord after the Battle of Kurukṣetra, when Lord Kṛṣṇa was going back home, are excellently explained. Later she went to the forest with Gāndhārī for severe penance. She used to take meals after each thirty days. She finally sat down in profound meditation and later burned to ashes in a forest fire.
Have you not taken care of old men and boys who deserve to dine with you? Have you left them and taken your meals alone? Have you committed some unpardonable mistake which is considered to be abominable?
It is the duty of a householder to feed first of all the children, the old members of the family, the brāhmaṇas and the invalids. Besides that, an ideal householder is required to call for any unknown hungry man to come and dine before he himself goes to take his meals. He is required to call for such a hungry man thrice on the road. The neglect of this prescribed duty of a householder, especially in the matter of the old men and children, is unpardonable.
Duryodhana was intelligent enough to satisfy the brāhmaṇa by all means, and the great ṛṣi wanted to give some benediction to Duryodhana. Duryodhana knew his mystic powers, and he knew also that the mystic brāhmaṇa, if dissatisfied, could cause some havoc, and thus he designed to engage the brāhmaṇa to show his wrath upon his enemy cousins, the Pāṇḍavas. When the ṛṣi wanted to award some benediction to Duryodhana, the latter wished that he should visit the house of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, who was the eldest and chief among all his cousins. But by his request he would go to him after he had finished his meals with his Queen, Draupadī. Duryodhana knew that after Draupadī's dinner it would be impossible for Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira to receive such a large number of brāhmaṇa guests, and thus the ṛṣi would be annoyed and would create some trouble for his cousin Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira. That was the plan of Duryodhana. Durvāsā Muni agreed to this proposal, and he approached the King in exile, according to the plan of Duryodhana, after the King and Draupadī had finished their meals.
On his arrival at the door of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, he was at once well received, and the King requested him to finish his noontime religious rites in the river, for by that time the foodstuff would be prepared. Durvāsā Muni, along with his large number of disciples, went to take a bath in the river, and Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was in great anxiety about the guests. As long as Draupadī had not taken her meals, food could be served to any number of guests, but the ṛṣi, by the plan of Duryodhana, reached there after Draupadī had finished her meals.
When the devotees are put into difficulty, they have an opportunity to recollect the Lord with rapt attention. So Draupadī was thinking of Lord Kṛṣṇa in that dangerous position, and the all-pervading Lord could at once know the dangerous position of His devotees. He therefore came there on the scene and asked Draupadī to give whatever food she might have in her stock. On her being so requested by the Lord, Draupadī was sorrowful because the Supreme Lord asked her for some food and she was unable to supply it at that time. She said to the Lord that the mysterious dish which she had received from the sun-god could supply any amount of food if she herself had not eaten. But on that day she had already taken her meals, and thus they were in danger. By expressing her difficulties she began to cry before the Lord as only a woman would do in such a position. The Lord, however, asked Draupadī to bring up the cooking pots to see if there was any particle of foodstuff left, and on Draupadī's doing so, the Lord found some particle of vegetable sticking to the pot. The Lord at once picked it up and ate it. After doing so, the Lord asked Draupadī to call for her guests, the company of Durvāsā.
SB Canto 3
In the Vedas the symptoms of the lower animals are described as follows: athetareṣāṁ paśūnāḥ aśanāpipāse evābhivijñānaṁ na vijñātaṁ vadanti na vijñātaṁ paśyanti na viduḥ śvastanaṁ na lokālokāv iti; yad vā, bhūri-tamaso bahu-ruṣaḥ ghrāṇenaiva jānanti hṛdyaṁ prati svapriyaṁ vastv eva vindanti bhojana-śayanādy-arthaṁ gṛhṇanti. "Lower animals have knowledge only of their hunger and thirst. They have no acquired knowledge, no vision. Their behavior exhibits no dependence on formalities. Extensively ignorant, they can know their desirables only by smell, and by such intelligence only can they understand what is favorable and unfavorable. Their knowledge is concerned only with eating and sleeping." Therefore, even the most ferocious lower animals, such as tigers, can be tamed simply by regularly supplying meals and accommodations for sleeping. Only snakes cannot be tamed by such an arrangement.
SB Canto 4
If one does not accept the authority of the Supreme Godhead in matters of religion and morality, one must explain why two persons of the same moral standard achieve different results. It is generally found that even if two men have the same moral standards of ethics, honesty and morality, their positions are still not the same. Similarly, in economic development it is seen that if two men work very hard day and night, still the results are not the same. One person may enjoy great opulence without even working, whereas another person, although working very hard, does not even get two sufficient meals a day. Similarly, in the matter of sense gratification, sometimes one who has sufficient food is still not happy in his family affairs or sometimes is not even married, whereas another person, even though not economically well off, has the greatest opportunity for sense gratification.
SB Canto 6
Before taking his meal, the husband must first seat the ācārya comfortably, and, along with his relatives and friends, should control his speech and offer prasāda to the guru. Then the wife should eat the remnants of the oblation of sweet rice cooked with ghee. Eating the remnants insures a learned, devoted son and all good fortune.
SB Canto 9
Thus the King respectfully received Durvāsā Muni, who after eating varieties of palatable food was so satisfied that with great affection he requested the King to eat also, saying, "Please take your meal."
SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)
After granting His son Brahmā permission to leave, the Supreme Personality of Godhead took the calves, who were still where they had been a year earlier, and brought them to the riverbank, where He had been taking His meal and where His cowherd boyfriends remained just as before.
The cowherd boyfriends said to Lord Kṛṣṇa: You have returned so quickly! We have not eaten even one morsel in Your absence. Please come here and take Your meal without distraction.
Lord Kṛṣṇa would take His meal of boiled rice and yogurt, sent from home, in the company of Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa and the cowherd boys who regularly ate with Him. They would all sit down to eat on a large stone near the water.
Some of them were getting dressed, feeding milk to their infants or rendering personal service to their husbands, but they all gave up these duties and went to meet Kṛṣṇa. Other gopīs were taking their evening meals, washing themselves, putting on cosmetics or applying kajjala to their eyes. But all the gopīs stopped these activities at once and, though their clothes and ornaments were in complete disarray, rushed off to Kṛṣṇa.
After the evening meal, Lord Kṛṣṇa, the son of Devakī, asked Akrūra how Kaṁsa was treating their dear relatives and friends and what the King was planning to do.
Those who were taking their meals abandoned them, others went out without finishing their baths or massages, women who were sleeping at once rose when they heard the commotion, and mothers breast-feeding their infants simply put them aside.
It is because these Vṛṣṇis are bound to us by marital ties that we have granted them equality, allowing them to share our beds, seats and meals. Indeed, it is we who have given them their royal thrones.
His fame, as broadcast by the Vedas, the water that has washed His feet, and the words He speaks in the form of the revealed scriptures—these thoroughly purify this universe. Although the earth's good fortune was ravaged by time, the touch of His lotus feet has revitalized her, and thus she is raining down on us the fulfillment of all our desires. The same Lord Viṣṇu who makes one forget the goals of heaven and liberation has now entered into marital and blood relationships with you, who otherwise travel on the hellish path of family life. Indeed, in these relationships you see and touch Him directly, walk beside Him, converse with Him, and together with Him lie down to rest, sit at ease and take your meals.
My dear Vasudeva, you and your good wife Devakī have manifested great transcendental love for Kṛṣṇa, accepting Him as your son. Indeed, you are always seeing the Lord, embracing Him, speaking with Him, resting with Him, sitting together with Him and taking your meals with Him. By such affectionate and intimate association with the Lord, undoubtedly both of you have completely purified your hearts. In other words, you are already perfect.
Simply by decorating ourselves with the garlands, fragrant oils, clothes and ornaments that You have already enjoyed, and by eating the remnants of Your meals, we, Your servants, will indeed conquer Your illusory energy.
One in the gṛhastha order of life should daily worship the sages by Vedic study, the forefathers by offering the mantra svadhā, the demigods by chanting svāhā, all living entities by offering shares of one's meals, and human beings by offering grains and water. Thus considering the demigods, sages, forefathers, living entities and human beings to be manifestations of My potency, one should daily perform these five sacrifices.
After being purified by his father's performance of the prescribed rituals leading to Mārkaṇḍeya's brahminical initiation, Mārkaṇḍeya studied the Vedic hymns and strictly observed the regulative principles. He became advanced in austerity and Vedic knowledge and remained a lifelong celibate. Appearing most peaceful with his matted hair and his clothing made of bark, he furthered his spiritual progress by carrying the mendicant's waterpot, staff, sacred thread, brahmacārī belt, black deerskin, lotus-seed prayer beads and bundles of kuśa grass. At the sacred junctures of the day he regularly worshiped the Supreme Personality of Godhead in five forms—the sacrificial fire, the sun, his spiritual master, the brāhmaṇas and the Supersoul within his heart. Morning and evening he would go out begging, and upon returning he would present all the food he had collected to his spiritual master. Only when his spiritual master invited him would he silently take his one meal of the day; otherwise he would fast. Thus devoted to austerity and Vedic study, Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi worshiped the supreme master of the senses, the Personality of Godhead, for countless millions of years, and in this way he conquered unconquerable death.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
After this, all the sannyāsīs took the Lord into their midst, and thus they all took their meal together.
The practical effect of our spreading the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement all over the world is that now the most degraded debauchees are becoming the most elevated saints. This is only one Indian's humble service to the world. If all Indians had taken to this path, as advised by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, India would have given a unique gift to the world, and thus India would have been glorified. Now, however, India is known as a poverty-stricken country, and whenever anyone from America or another opulent country goes to India, he sees many people lying by the footpaths for whom there are not even provisions for two meals a day. There are also institutions collecting money from all parts of the world in the name of welfare activities for poverty-stricken people, but they are spending it for their own sense gratification.
This confidential service was the personal care of the Lord. Svarūpa Dāmodara, acting as His secretary, attended to the Lord's baths, meals, rest and massages, and Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī assisted him. In effect, Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī acted as the assistant secretary of the Lord.
CC Madhya-lila
Taking this opportunity, Śrī Advaita Ācārya Prabhu sent for mother Śacīdevī, and she remained at His house for seven days to prepare the meals for Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
Some of the prominent devotees like Advaita Ācārya used to invite Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to take His meals at their homes. The Lord accepted such invitations accompanied by His devotees.
The seven persons headed by Svarūpa Dāmodara who were engaged in distributing prasādam to others then took their meals within the room.
Then, entering the flower garden, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu took His meal. In this way He continuously performed all kinds of pastimes for eight days.
Rāmānanda Rāya invited all the others for their meals, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu made His resting place in a garden outside the temple.
Being thus transcendentally amused, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu passed that day happily at Keśī-tīrtha. In the evening He returned to Akrūra-tīrtha, where He took His meal.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu had made an acquaintance with a brāhmaṇa from Deccan (in South India), and that brāhmaṇa invited Him for meals and took Him to his place.
Tapana Miśra then said, "Sanātana has some duty to perform; therefore he cannot accept lunch now. At the conclusion of the meal, I shall supply Sanātana with some remnants."
When Caitanya Mahāprabhu introduced the Maharashtrian brāhmaṇa to Sanātana, the brāhmaṇa immediately invited Sanātana Gosvāmī for full meals.
Sanātana replied, "I shall practice the process of mādhukarī. Why should I accept full meals in the house of a brāhmaṇa?"
The word mādhukarī comes from the word madhukara, which refers to bees collecting pollen from flower to flower. A mādhukarī is a saintly person or a mendicant who does not accept a full meal at one house but begs from door to door, taking a little food from each householder's place. In this way he does not overeat or give householders unnecessary trouble. A person in the renounced order may beg but not cook. His begging should not be a burden for the householders. The mādhukarī process is strictly to be followed by a bābājī, that is, one who has attained the paramahaṁsa stage. This practice is still current in Vṛndāvana, and there are many places where alms are offered. Unfortunately, there are many beggars who have come to Vṛndāvana to accept alms but not follow the principles of Sanātana Gosvāmī. People try to imitate him and lead an idle life by practicing mādhukarī. It is almost impossible to strictly follow Sanātana Gosvāmī or Rūpa Gosvāmī. It is better to accept food offered to Kṛṣṇa in the temple than to try to imitate Sanātana Gosvāmī and Rūpa Gosvāmī.
CC Antya-lila
At night, when Śivānanda Sena returned and was taking his meal, he inquired from the servant whether the dog had gotten its meals.
After returning home, Pradyumna Miśra bathed and ate his meal. In the evening he came to see the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
Then Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu told Raghunātha dāsa, "Go bathe in the sea. Then see Lord Jagannātha in the temple and return here to take your meal."
After finishing the meal, Rāmacandra Purī requested, "My dear Jagadānanda, please listen. You eat the food that is left."
There was no certainty of where Rāmacandra Purī would take his meal, for he would do so even uninvited. Nevertheless, he was very particular about keeping account of how others were taking their meals.
Every day the Lord would take His meal at a different place, and if someone was prepared to pay for a meal, the price was fixed at only four paṇas.
When they all requested very fervently that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu take a full meal, He still would not do so. Instead, He responded to their request by accepting half as much as usual.
“Why didn’t you go to take your meal after I fell asleep?” the Lord asked.
Govinda replied, "You were lying down, blocking the door, and there was no way to go."
By the grace of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Caitanya dāsa understood the Lord's mind. Therefore he arranged for food that would counteract the heavy meal the Lord had eaten the previous day.
Later in life, Caitanya dāsa became a very learned Sanskrit scholar and wrote many books. Among these books, his commentary on Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta is very famous. There is another book called Caitanya-caritāmṛta, which is a work of Sanskrit poetry. It is said that this was also composed by him.
“Go quickly and massage the Lord's feet,” he said. “You may tell Him, "The Paṇḍita has just sat down to take his meal."
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Teachings of Lord Caitanya
The second mission was to revive the places where Kṛṣṇacandra had at the end of Dvāpara-yuga exhibited His spiritual līlā (pastimes) for the benefit of the religious world. Rūpa Gosvāmī left Allahabad for Vṛndāvana, and Mahāprabhu came down to Benares. There He resided in the house of Candraśekhara and accepted His daily bhikṣā (meal) in the house of Tapana Miśra. Here it was that Sanātana Gosvāmī joined Him and took instruction for two months in spiritual matters. The biographers, especially Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja, have given us details of Caitanya's teachings to Rūpa and Sanātana. Kṛṣṇadāsa was not a contemporary writer, but he gathered his information from the Six Gosvāmīs themselves, the direct disciples of Mahāprabhu. Jīva Gosvāmī, who was a nephew of Sanātana and Rūpa's and who has left us his invaluable work the Ṣaṭ-sandarbhas, has philosophized on the precepts of his great leader. We have gathered and summarized the precepts of Caitanya from the books of those great writers.
Nectar of Devotion
The purport of this statement by Indra is that beginning from Brahmā down to the insignificant ant, no living entities are meant for enjoying the material opulences. They are simply meant for offering everything to the supreme proprietor, the Personality of Godhead. By doing so, they automatically enjoy the benefit. The example can be cited again of the different parts of the body collecting foodstuffs and cooking them so that ultimately a meal may be offered to the stomach. After it has gone to the stomach, all the parts of the body equally enjoy the benefit of the meal. So, similarly, everyone's duty is to satisfy the Supreme Lord, and then automatically everyone will become satisfied.
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
In due time, the brāhmaṇa took his bath, accepted his meals and lay down to rest on a bedstead completely bedecked with soft silk. As he was resting, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa silently approached and, with great respect, put the brāhmaṇa's legs on His lap and began to massage them. In this way, Kṛṣṇa appeared before the brāhmaṇa and said, "My dear brāhmaṇa, I hope that you are executing the religious principles without difficulty and that your mind is always peaceful." Different classes of people in the social system are engaged in various professions, and when one inquires as to the well-being of a particular person, he should do so on the basis of that person's occupation. Therefore, when one inquires as to the welfare of a brāhmaṇa, the questions should be worded according to his condition of life so as not to disturb him. A peaceful mind is the basis for becoming truthful, clean, equipoised, self-controlled and tolerant.
Message of Godhead
These spiritually cultured people used to do everything for the sake of Viṣṇu. They used to earn wealth according to their capacity for the service of Viṣṇu. With their earnings they used to acquire eatables, and the eatables were cooked for the worship of Viṣṇu. Then the meal offered to satisfy Viṣṇu became prasādam—"the Lord's mercy," the remnants of His meal—and could be accepted by them. What was possible in days gone by and is still being done here and there even today can again be made possible in all spheres of life, by a little adjustment suitable to time, place, and people. In this way, everyone can get free of the binding network of actions and reactions.
| Page Title: | Meals (Books) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Mayapur |
| Created: | 07 of Mar, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=2, SB=22, CC=24, OB=4, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 52 |