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Thread: Prasad a real offering?

  1. #1

    Prasad a real offering?

    Hey everyone,

    I´m not sure about food offerings. You put on the altar, offer it and then eat it yourself. Is this a real offering?
    Thanks for help...

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    Re: Prasad a real offering?

    hariḥ oṁ
    ~~~~~~

    namasté

    This HDF post may assist you ( in part ) :
    http://hindudharmaforums.com/showthr...hlight=customs

    What you are talking about is prasāda 'through the kindness or by the favor of' ; the food that is offered and food that is received.
    Note that 'food' is not only that which is taken in by the mouth, but also by hearing, seeing, touching and the like.

    iti śivaṁ
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

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    Re: Prasad a real offering?

    Namaste,

    Quote Originally Posted by PestThurse View Post
    Hey everyone,

    I´m not sure about food offerings. You put on the altar, offer it and then eat it yourself. Is this a real offering?
    Thanks for help...
    Hey PT, here is the traditional take on prasaad:

    Food is left at the alter as an offering to God and the curtain closed so as to provide privacy to God at His mealtime. He 'tastes' the food in His sublime ways. The remnants of His meal is called the prasaad and is the food that has been tasted by and therefore been blessed by God. This serves as a meal for the devotees.

    One of the benefits of eating ONLY the food that has been previously offered to God is the quality and freshness of the food that we eat. We offer only a Saatwic meal, freshly made from wholesome ingredients to God to please Him. So, the prasaad that we eat will also conform to the Vedic Saatwic code and will nourish our body and soul.

    Pranam.

  4. #4

    Re: Prasad a real offering?

    Thanks for the quick answers

    I know about how god eats the prasad, but we dont loose anything. We prepare food that we want to eat, it gets bless and we eat it. In my opinion its an act of bhakti but not a real offering.

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    Re: Prasad a real offering?

    Namaste,

    Quote Originally Posted by PestThurse View Post
    I know about how god eats the prasad, but we dont loose anything.........
    That is an intellectual perception, not a devotional belief.

    Quote Originally Posted by PestThurse View Post
    In my opinion its an act of bhakti but not a real offering.
    Again, 'the opinion' comes from the intellectual/rational thinking. A devotee sees the whole process as an offering in which God does EAT some of his food. You may prepare what you want to eat, but He is the chief guest and gets to taste it first.

    There is the devotional faith and the rational 'my opinion', and many times they pull us in different directions. The choice is ours as to which path we take. Some people go even further and say, 'I can't see God, so He is just a figment of other's imagination' and don't accept the whole concept of His existence. There is no end to the 'my opinions' and they all come from our limited understanding. I am not trying to debate here, just clarifying the positions of faith and intellect. The choice is yours to make.

    Pranam.

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    Re: Prasad a real offering?

    Namaste

    Lots of explanations and statements you will find here.

    http://www.bhagavad-gita.us/bhagavad-gita-3-13/

    Pranam
    Dance with Shiva - live with Shiva - merge with Shiva

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    Re: Prasad a real offering?

    Vannakkam: Here is another article on why we offer naivedyam. http://theancientindia.blogspot.ca/2...od-to-god.html My take is that we offer the prana, and since prana has no mass of itself, the deities partake. Of course any individual is free to not believe in or not do any of the more mystical stuff in Hinduism. After all, to quote Spock, 'It is illogical!"

    Aum Namasivaya

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    Re: Prasad a real offering?

    Namaste,

    Quote Originally Posted by PestThurse View Post
    Is this a real offering?
    PT, I am sorry, I think we got sidetracked a little. Rational thinking not withstanding; yes, a devotee does consider offering food to God as a 'real offering'. It is another way of connecting with and keeping Him in our consciousness.

    Pranam.

  9. #9

    Re: Prasad a real offering?

    Quote Originally Posted by Believer View Post
    Namaste,

    yes, a devotee does consider offering food to God as a 'real offering'.
    Pranam.
    Okay thanks

  10. #10

    Re: Prasad a real offering?

    PestThurse,
    1. Sometimes God actually comes and eats the prasAd to please the devotee. Even after this the prasAd will remain intact, but yet it is an offering that was accepted.

    2. When God accepts an extra-ordinary offering (not necessarily of food - could be anything like the cloth that Draupadi tied as bandage to KRshNa's cut finger -- which was torn from her expensive pitambari silk sari without second thought
    or the Tulasi Leaf that RukmiNi placed with love and devotion on the tulA made by SatyabhAmA
    or the garland worn by GodA (AnDal) .... ),
    He remembers that 'Rn' , 'debt' and reciprocates when the time is right , or when the devotee needs His help the most.

    Shri KRshNa Govinda Hare MurAre, he nAtha nArAyaNa vAsudeva ~
    Last edited by smaranam; 31 December 2015 at 12:19 AM.
    || Shri KRshNArpaNamastu ||

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