Sharanagati

What is prasadam? For example, lets say, the devotees have a kitchen where they produce these potato chips. And when the big truck is fully loaded with the chips – ready – and the guy is just at the exit, he just blows the horn three times – then all the chips started to be mahaprasadam? “Because we are devotees – I’m a devotee-driver, he is a devotee-cook and here is the devotional potato chips!!!” No, please, stop…..

We are searching for quality. So our offering is not only ringing the bells. You should give yourself also. This is our part – to make the offering; and His part is to accept it. Will He accept the blowing the horn from a camion? I think something else He wants, a different music. His ear is very sensitive.

And definitely He is not interested in your little this and that, that you mix in the kitchen. Because He has all the different varieties and excellent foodstuffs in Vaikuntha for example. They have much better stores than Billa. But where Krishna is eating? Not in Vaikuntha. He is taking at home and in the hearts of His pure devotees. He is eating in Mother Yashoda’s kitchen. And Mother Yashoda is tasting: “Whether this is good enough for my Krishna or not.” Once I had this kind of realization, that Mother Yashoda MUST taste the food, it’s impossible otherwise, because her love is so great for her little boy, that she cannot give something too hot, or may be it’s burning the lips, or something is missing. She must try whether is good or not. And if not then she adds something more and then in this way she will be happy – and He will be also happy. But then I was a little schizophrenic: “May be this is not correct. May be this understanding is not right.” But then next time I was meeting some acharya and he said: “Mother Yashoda is always tasting the food for Krishna.”

So, this is the quality of your offering. This is not simply the foodstuffs. In the same way, when you eat the prasadam, it’s the quality of your receiving. Because the spiritual power is there in the food – but can you feel that? Or you simply take to fill up your belly, to enjoy? Even in eating quality should be there. We should be qualified eaters.

Once in the ancient times there was one disciple and he approached his spiritual master: “O my master, I have a doubt in my heart. There is Krishna Janmashtami, and there is this Radhashtami. And I don’t understand something. What is higher – Janmashtami or Radhashtami?” And the Guru said: “How come, that’s obvious! What do you think?” And the boy said: “Well, we go on fasting all the day for Janmashtami. And on Radhashtami we fast only half-day. So may be Janmashtami is bigger, because there is a big fast, may be it is more important.” But then the Guru said: “How can you think in such an elementary platform, my dear? Because Krishna is very high, therefore you give high respect. But Radha is very sweet – therefore you can eat at midday. So in Krishna there’s more respect, in Radha there’s more sweetness. Therefore our celebration is Radhashtami, it’s more sweet. It’s more nectar included there and you should taste this sweet nectar of Radhika.” The boy was listening with eyes and ears open. He was a good combinator. And then he said: “But then Gurudev, why don’t we eat all the time?” Right? Very logical conclusion. Isn’t it?

Because if we can take the nectar all the time, if you can appreciate prasadam that much – all the time, every day you should eat. This should be our mood to appreciate prasadam. If you have that mood, you should eat all the day. If you could sleep in such a mood, you should sleep 24 hours a day. So, finally, a new prospect for the brahmacharis, ha? “I improve my meditation. Don’t disturb me, I’m in my yoga-nidra.” But yes, if somebody has that quality of sleeping, his or her service can be his dream. Still, until you are not on that purified platform, control your eating, control your sleeping.

But again don’t forget about the sweet side of Bhakti, that some devotees were discussing and one said: “You know, I came for prasadam.” They were practicing half of their life. Second said “I also came for prasadam.” And the third one said: “Hm, you know… I stayed for prasadam.”

So this is the quality – quality offering and quality receiving. And it’s a little bit more difficult to understand or to see these qualities when we talk about the human platform. When we talk about divine mercy coming to us, the picture is more clear. But who knows the power of a pure devotee? It’s not visible for the eye, it’s not perceivable for you on the surface. Blessings work in a more penetrating depth of your existence.