Namaste Ji,
Quote Originally Posted by smaranam View Post
P.P.S. Dear Virajaji, I can guess why Shri RAma is offered jaggery-water (guD-pAni or guL-pANi in Marathi) and NRsimha offered buttermilk -- because when He was under vanavAs (forest days) , after a long day He would be back home and Sita would offer Him guDa-pAni the first thing, so must all the Rushi muni whose Ashrams and huts He visited. Here is why : In the heat when you are out for long, you have to get hydrated with the water and the body needs sugar -- carbs (no food). RAma was quite austere, He ate kanda-mULa (roots) and Sita, LakshmaNa followed suit. In the villages in Maharashtra even today, especially among the farmers, you will see this tradition of offering GuL-pANI to a guest who typically had a long journey in the heat (many times on foot). As for NRsimha Deva what better offering than sAttvik cool buttermilk after His mission was accomplished! I could easily finish a pint or two simply after being out in the hot sun.
Apologies for interjecting, but you remind me that a modern treatment for dehydration even in Western medicine is to drink water mixed with Sugar and a little salt. Even the "Banana Bag" used in ERs for serious dehydration or those who cannot drink on their own is saline water, sugars and a multivitamin. Good wisdom never changes...

~Pranam