NO SCRIPTURES?.

Did you mean rk bhashans?.

No one will ever be able to follow all the prescriptions of Hari Bhakti Vilasa. Who would want to? Following thousands of rules and restrictions will not give you bhakti. If you read through Hari Bhakti Vilas where it addresses what Krishna likes to eat, you can quickly notice that milk and milk products, rice, sweets, and fruits are His favorites. We can use common sense too. Since we live by eating the remnants of Krishna we should prepare and offer what will be beneficial for our bhajan which will be light, sattvic meals that are nourishing and easily digested.

In Srimad Bhagavatam Krishna says:

yad yad iSTatamaM loke
yA cAti-priyam AtmanaH |
tat tan nivedayen mahyaM
tad anantyAya kalpate ||BhP 11.11.41||

"A person who offers to Me whatever is most precious in the world, or whatever is most dear to his heart, all of that should be offered to Me, and he attains in return a benefit that has no end."

A friend of mine who lived in India for a long time with her gurudev has a Govardhan sila that she worshipped. She had to return to the US and she told her guru, "The food will be so different there, what should I offer to Giridhari?" Her guru replied, "He is your Giridhari, he likes what you like...feed Him that!"
It seems quite simple to me. Offer Krishna what you think is good and delicious. Give Him the best of whatever is available to you.

Here is one thing that bothers me. Show me one temple in Vrindavan that doesn't offer food to Krishna that is oily and full of chillies. To me that seems like an inconsiderate way to treat Thakurji. Consider this statement from the Bhagavatam:

yat te sujAta-caraNAmburuhaM staneSu
bhItAH zanaiH priya dadhImahi karkazeSu |
tenATavIm aTasi tad vyathate na kiM svit
kUrpAdibhir bhramati dhIr bhavad-AyuSAM naH ||BhP 1.31.19||

O Priya, in anxiety for your tender lotus feet, we place them gently on our breasts. When you roam about in the rough forest paths with these feet, and when we do not know whether they are pinched by small stones and so forth or not, this casts the minds of us, for whom you are the elixir of life, into a whirlpool of unsteadiness.”

Radhaji and her sakhis are afraid of harming Krishna's tender lotus-feet with their hard breasts. Imagine what Krishna's tender lotus-mouth would feel like stuffed with chillies.

According to this link

http://www.salagram.net/Onions-Garli...avism.html#Why no Garlic and Onions?


(i) Because they are of the food category of Rajas and Tamas. They cause a disturbance, and even pain and sickness to those who eat them. Especially if you are not used to eating them and find them slipped into a meal – painful air, diarrhea, are often side effects – symptoms of the modes of passion and ignorance.

(ii) Because they (such foods) cannot be offered to the Deity.

(iii) Because they impair Deity worship by their profound and even bad smell, and their repeating nature so as to effectively disqualify the sadhaka from performing Deity worship as laid down in the Hari Bhakti Vilas, and Bhaktirasamrta Sindhu (even Hing and Gingerly are mentioned, what to speak of onion and garlic) regarding making sure that such foods that repeat upon one, and that food in general is thoroughly digested before one performs the pujas.

(iv) Because the onion and garlic are considered to grow below the ground and thus tamasiki in nature many chaste Vaishnavas would not partake of them.

(v) Because they are not a native to devotional cooking see (I) & (ii) & (iii) being introduced from
other countries (karma bhumi – outside of dharma-bhumi) like so many other things.

(vi) Because of the references to their origin as being derived of animal sacrifice, as evolved from the sin of steeling the offering and when caught for that by her husband throwing that to a distant place where due to its being impregnated with life invoking mantras took the seed form as red dahl, red onion and white onion.



If you say only "Satvic" can be offerable, then we cannot offer anything that is fried like pooris,samosa,kachoris,pakoras,gulab jamuns,salty,pungent,with chilli or pepper, any sweet preparation because too sweet is also not satvic. WE cannot offer idlis,dahi,bread or any fermented stuff as its not freshly prepared. We cannot offer any frozen things or chilled items.
Also I read that only qualities of food were mentioned while describing satvic or rajasic, no where the names of the food mentioned. Correct me in case you know more

Why am I still pondering..and having hard time in understanding these.I think being vegetarian/vegan would be enough, and limiting diet to not eating carrots, or radishes, red lentlils, tomatoes, seem to me little outrageous. Why do people fall for these things. In fact, its not even mentioned anywhere as far as I know in the texts (forgive me if it is, AND if so, let me know where and which verse,etc)

And its interesting if you check out the history of tomatoes and potatoes, it had been introduced in Asia, only a few centuries back from South Americas. Whereas Onions and garlic were grown indigenously and has been eaten since prehistoric times.

Yours humbly,
OmHari

Thank You Chanduji.

Those who want scriptural ref. can skim through Varaha Purana,Padma purana,Garuda purana, and Hari BhaktiVilas (as Galaxy has already mentioned) , also read Ayurveda (Foods inducing vata pitta kapha ... ) .

Food offered to Sri Hari (Vishnu Tattva) has to be Sattvic.

Yes, food offered to Sri Hari (Vishnu Tattva) as well as other devtas , has to be Sattvic.

I agree that one should not go overboard with chillies - to the extent of "Daaha" for Krshna. Then the food is not Sattvic anymore. Any chilly added is generally removed later, or seeded before adding.

Imagine little KAnhA going barefoot into the forest with a spicy lunch box - or also when He is all grown up. Hard to think about.

It would be nice to avoid chillies as well as mustard seeds when possible. Cumin and dry corriander bring good taste.

Food offered on special occasions was to be made without mustard seeds and chillies, but with cumin. This is the practice in families that do not offer their food daily, only for special Puja or Holy days (Typical menu : potato sabji, sweet shira/halwa, toor daal rice, cucumber raita). This means that tadkas of mustard seeds and chillies were not considered pleasing to Sri Hari.

However, if we are offering food daily and sharing it with others , its better that it keep some acceptable balance and not get rejected as 'bland'. So that people will be encouraged to include prasadam in their lifestyle without drastic changes. As long as we stay within the guidelines of nature of Sattvic food (BG 17.8, 9, 10).

This seems to be the message of acharyas of past and present.


======

* Dahi has probiotics, and Krshna tiptoed into Gopis' houses to steal it.

* The idli dosa fermentations can cause stomach-aches for some. That means it wasn't Sattvic. Urad daal may be soaked but drained long before fermentation. That's what we do - no sour idlis and dosas.

*Breads like Chapatis and cakes are to be offered fresh,warm. If offered appropriately, and once they become Prasad, they do not become tamasic after 3 hours or refrigeration. Yeast and fermented breads are not offered.

*Finally, those interested can always give up tadkas, fried foods, gulab jamuns, all sense gratification. It will only bring them closer to Krshna.

Jai Sri Krshna

For those that keep inquiring about yogurt, it is stated in the Bhagavat.

guDa-pAyasa-sarpIMSi
zaSkulyApUpa-modakAn |
samyAva-dadhi-sUpAMz ca
naivedyaM sati kalpayet ||BhP 11.27.34||


"Within his means, the devotee should arrange to offer Me sugar candy, sweet rice, ghee, zaskulI (rice-flour cakes), ApUpa (various sweet cakes), modaka (steamed rice-flour dumplings filled with sweet-coconut and sugar), samyAva (wheat cakes made with ghee and milk and covered with sugar and spices), yogurt, vegetable soups, and other palatable foods."

What does it mean rk?

As far as I know only the QUALITIES of sattvic food was decribed, not the list of food which are sattvic. Spices,refined sugar(Originally, people chewed the cane raw to extract its sweetness. Indians discovered how to crystallize sugar during the Gupta dynasty, around AD 350), flour are under rajasic, and cheese comes under tamasic category,by the way

**Good Document - List of Sattvic Foods :
http://www.myralewin.com/Documents/L...ic%20Foods.pdf

AYURVEDA says ...
Ayurveda Food Types Satvic, Rajsic & Tamsic - AyurShop.com


* Aged cheese is tamasic - not in the least surprised. However, freshly made paneer can't be , right ? Fortunately i don't eat any of these things.

Please note that all paneer, rasgulla, kind of food has to be offered fresh, then it becomes Prasad if the Lord accepts, then it can be refrigerated and chilled. Not the other way around. Offering Krshna paneer and rasgulla in the mind - from His own Surabhi cows of Gokul, also should not be a problem


* Refined processed sugar and flour are rajasic - hmmm understandable - as against whole grains and whole grain flour.

How about Mishri - crystallized sugar , and Jaggery ?

Krishna eats Maakhan Mishri first thing in the morning :
"Maiya, Mohe Maakhan-Mishri bhaaye ... Meetho Dahi Meethai Dadhighata ...."

Pandurang Vitthal of Pandharpur takes a break during His daily abhishek to eat sugar candy.

Wheat is Sattvic. So then what about whole wheat flour and Semolina ?
SatyaNarayan Shira , Semolina Halwa with bananas and Tulasi can't possibly be Rajasic. Lord Narayana Himself instructs how to make it and offer to Him
11/4 rava 1 1/4 sugar 11/4 ghee 1 banana.

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Its better that people turn towards spiritually gradually, even if they do not offer all their food, rather than simply leading a fruititive materialistic life.

However, its definitely good to look into lists of foods that are Sattvic acc. to AyurVeda. My exploration into Ayurveda has begun thanks to you, OmHariJi, and SambyaJi.



More links :

Sattvic Food In Yoga Diet Are Predominantly Vegetarian, Pure, Light And Simple | Yoga Health Benefits

* Eating in haste , gulping swallowing , is Rajasic

* Overeating is Tamasic

since you have already gone through all of them please be generous enough to specify the verses so that people can find it with ease without requiring to read through all the books !

ah...never mind what it ,means !!

it refers to ramakrishna . the three aspects of chandu's posts are :
-showing to the world how vile and wretched islam is !
-how dangerous and murderous "neo-hindus" are !!
-how criminal ramakrishna was !!


theres not a single post without reference to atleast any one from these three . go to his profile and check his 'find all posts' to see what i mean !

I would prefer jaggery over sugar, but sometimes its unavoidable esp in the west.

About overeating , I agree, where half the world goes starved , its only wise to not to indulge in overeating, whenever possible.
I think we should not waste "prasada"
We must cook food as much as necessary, if we plan to eat out at friends or family,etc, we must in advance inform how much our host can prepare.
I dont know how its in temples usually where food is prepared in huge quantities

I try to use jaggery when possible, otherwise organic raw-cane-sugar (or Turbinado).

You may be aware of the fact that refined sugar in some western countries is processed thru' bone. This is a problem for some , and not for others. Some organic cane sugars which are naturally crystallized do not have this problem.

Jai Sri Krshna

What ? Of course i haven't gone thru' all of them ! I am not the one who is doubting what the acharyas have said.

If i come across anything specific i shall post it. The Manu Samhita talks about onion, garlic, leeks.
Onions & Garlic in relation to Vaishnavism

The Lord has given us the guidelines, and He guides us from within. Please read post #42.

Did you look at the "List of Sattvic Foods" and other links i posted ?
It says some unsprouted lentils are rajasic. This could very well be masoor daal. Black-eye peas (chavli) is listed as Sattvic. The AyurShop website has good information. Let us first ask Lord Dhanvantari, the Lord's incarnation as the Divine Physician, for His blessings.

true , but you are the one who is also claiming it and therefore its your duty to show the places ..

i shall wait . by the way i was not talking about onion and garlic . i was concentrating on massor dal , carrots radish etc




but apart from scriptures perhaps you could also provide with some logic so as to why these things are forbidden . if carrots and raddish is forbidden because they grow underground then why are potatoes eaten ? what about turmeric ? why is milf sattvick and dal not ? what might be the simple logic behind this ?

Pure calumny.Sure,go through all my posts, especially at What`s in a name?

not at all .............the one or two texts that doesnt have such topics are pure exceptions ............and we all know everything has its exceptions !!


anyways interested readers would judge that themselves .........i just expressed what i repetitively notice in your posts !!

For those who are citing quotes from Manu Smriti,

The Manu Smriti was one of the first Sanskrit texts studied by the British. It was first translated into English by the founder of indology, Sir William Jones. His version was published in 1794. British administrative requirements encouraged their interest in the Dharmashastras, which they believed to be legal codes. In fact, these were not codes of law but norms related to social obligations and ritual requirements.

According to Avari:
The text was never universally followed or acclaimed by the vast majority of Indians in their history; it came to the world's attention through a late eighteenth-century translation by Sir William Jones, who mistakenly exaggerated both its antiquity and its importance. Today many of its ideas are popularised as the golden norm of classical Hindu law by Hindu universalists. They are, however, anathema to modern thinkers and particularly feminists.

And I know many Vaishnav families just one or two generations back, who did not have oil tadka for food, neither did they have tea,what to speak of coffee, and I also came to know they were not eating sugar, as it was not sattvic. They drank milk only from their own cows or goats, not the one from factories these days. All this only few decades ago in India, what to speak of centuries before.
So the milk taken from cows who are not treated with love, but rather tortured inside factories, is not Sattvic, not in goodness, forgive me.