Sharanagati

Question: As I’m still on the level of expecting the feedback, I would like to ask: how can we understand if Krishna has accepted our offering – if this is our business to know?

Swami Tirtha: Ah, good! You are humble. If I cannot judge, I have to ask somebody who can judge. If the devotees are happy with the food served to them, then maybe this was accepted by Krishna. Usually they are happy. So most probably He always accepts.

But always remember this beautiful story of Mahaprabhu – when He tasted one sweetmeat. He said: “Ah, we all know the ingredients of these sweetmeats: the sugar, the milk and the spices – we all know that. But here is some higher taste. Where does it come from? Krishna must have tasted this, therefore from the touch of His lips this extraordinary divine taste is coming.”

So, if we are purified more and more, and also become experts in the kitchen, then from your expertise you will know all the ingredients and from your spiritual purification you will see when there is the divine higher taste. It’s a mystery, but it’s said that the food turns into Krishna. This means that it can fully spiritually acquire divine potency.

Question: How to put the theory into practice?

Swami Tirtha: To serve God – usually we are far from that reality. So we need something, somebody closer – where we can see, where we can judge.

One of the disciples of Gurudev, when he wants to remember his spiritual master, it’s not the strong philosophical lectures that he remembers, it’s not the strong chastisement that he has received, it’s not the grand happiness that they enjoyed while doing services together – but when he was cooking for his master. A new recipe! And Gurudev from time to time was peeping into the kitchen: “Ah, what’s that?”

This is service.

Devotional life is sometimes very insignificant. I mean: what explains to you this essence sometimes is very insignificant. But I think we are very fortunate if we have some flashes like this.

It’s the same with chanting. Chanting is like a private meditation, also an offering to God and we know that this is our main practice. And usually we offer this chanting as a service. And sometimes He will accept – then you will feel: ‘Today this was not my chanting. Today He accepted.”

I think we all have some experience what it means to really selflessly and spontaneously give something as a loving offering, as a loving service. It’s not that complicated, this is vey human. This is the beauty of this process – that the most general human activities we can sanctify, we can engage in service.