aranya baba

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."

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.

With all due respect Bhaktajan you have not contributed to anything to this thread. You only popped in to criticize. I was speaking to galaxy18 and not to you. I came and posted useful, legitimate information regarding the proper way to offer bhoga, by the way.

What? I have no idea what that means.

Galaxy18 Ji, take a look at what I said. I simply said that it seems that you don't speak from personal knowledge. I am making an observation and comment about your posting style because I find it unusual. You don't start a discussion, you just copy and paste huge amounts of text. You say you are full of defects and have no knowledge so you quote sastra, but you really don't do that either. You provide some quotes or passages and just attribute it to this or that Purana without citing the verse numbers for reference. Just look at your first post that began this thread. I make a very small comment and you get extremely defensive. I don't understand. Why? Why not address these things calmly and thoughtfully thus creating a proper atmosphere for discussion and learning?

Dear Galaxy18 ji, I looked on your blog and you tell your name as Gaurav Mohnot. Are you initiated? If so, what is your initiated name. You copy & paste so many articles, but when someone asks a question, you seem unable to answer questions using any knowledge of your own.

Galaxy18, the method of offering bhoga that you wrote is unlike any process I have heard of before. I think that is only done in ISKCON. Every Gaudiya Vaisnava I know offers bhoga using the method below or something very similar. Hopefully you will find this helpful and informative. The bhoga-offering is done in three parts as follows: First, place the plate on the altar on a place you can easily wipe after the offering, preferably on a small table reserved for the purpose, surrounded by seats for the deities. Thereafter, place tulasI-leaves on each preparation and sprinkle gaGga-water around the offering to purify it. Then, while ringing the bell, offer the bhoga with the following mantras: etat naivedyaM (food-offering) – klIM gaurAGgAya namaH | klIM nityAnandAya namaH | klIM advaitAya namaH | klIM kRSNAya namaH | With each mantra, offer water from the paJca-patra to the person to whom bhoga is being offered. After reciting the mantras above, chant the eighteen-syllable kRSNa-mantra ten times above the offering plate, counting on fingers. After a time appropriate for the meal, clap your hands and then offer AcAmana (idam AcAmanIyam) and vastra (etat proJchana-vastram) to everyone who has eaten. Thereafter, offer the remnants onwards: etat gaura-prasAdi-naivedyaM – zrI-gadAdhara-zrIvAsAdi-bhakta-vRndebhyo namaH | etat kRSNa-prasAdi-naivedyaM – zrI-rAdhA-lalitAdi-sakhIbhyo namaH | As before, offer AcAmana and vastra to those who have eaten, then giving the prasAdI onwards: etat gaura-prasAdi-naivedyaM – zrI-rUpa-sanAtanAdi-gosvamI-vargebhyo namaH | zrI-guru-vargebhyo namaH | etat rAdhA-prasAdi-naivedyaM – zrI-rUpa-maJjarI-Adi-maJjarI-vargebhyo namaH | zrI-guru-maJjarI-vargebhyo namaH | In concluding, offer AcAmana and vastra to those who have eaten.The appropriate time for the total duration of the offering may vary anywhere in between five and thirty minutes depending on what is being offered. In pUjA and in offering rAjabhoga, when one offers prasAdI-candana, other prasAdI-items or bhoga, one should say in sequence the names of those in one’s zrI-guru-siddha-praNAlI. When offering other bhoga, one says zrI-guru-vargebhyo namaH and zrI-guru-maJjarI-vargebhyo namaH. When bhoga is being offered at festival time, zrIman mahAprabhu, zrI nityAnanda prabhu, zrI advaita prabhu and zrI kRSNa are offered four seats, and separate portions of bhoga are offered to zrIman mahAprabhu in the middle, to zrI nityAnanda prabhu on his right side, to zrI advaita prabhu on his left side, and left from the three prabhus, then zrI kRSNa’s bhoga is placed. After that, the bhoga is offered in sequence to their associates as usual. On ekAdazI, one should only offer foods free of grains and other forbidden ingredients. In navadvIpa, one should only offer to the three prabhus and the devotees headed by gadAdhara and zrIvAsa. Even among them, some are observing nirjala-vrata.

People are saying things like "wait" and "do your sadhana" and so forth, but I dont agree at all. I really don't appreciate any of the advise given thus far. Your life doesn't really start until you have received diksha. Your sadhana is given to you by your guru. Obviously, you shouldn't rush out and accept a guru carelessly, but you should definitely be seeking one right now. Make sure they actually have a disciplic succession. A line of diksha gurus leading to Nityananda, or Advaita or to whoever the head of their parivar is, other examples being Gadadhar or Narottama, etc. Your spiritual life actually begins when you have received the shelter and blessings of Sri Guru.

I don't understand all this talk of cultivating this and cultivating that. As Vaisnavas we only cultivate bhakti. The rest comes on its own.

Correct, one doesn't hear of babaji vesh before the early 19th century. You can see it in the guru pranalis of various Vaisnavas too. The disciplic lines were generally carried on by Prabhu Vamsh Goswamis/inis...you won't see anyone with the title, "babaji."

For some reason I took your words, "being pushed to the avadhuta path" to be your way of referring to becoming a babaji. Sorry for not reading you clearly. That seems to beg the question, what do you mean by the avadhuta path? I hope you have a blissful trip to the Dham in August.

It's a great aspiration to want to come to Radha Kunda to do bhajan, but I am curious. What does your guru say about it? I wouldn't recommend coming to the Dham without the blessings of your guru. Also, why do you think that you need to accept the vows of a babaji do come to Radha Kunda for bhajan? Bhajan can be done as a grihasta and as a single, unmarried person. I don't see any big advantage to taking babaji vesh for a westerner. It can have a more practical value if you are an Indian and need to get out of your social/family constraints. If you don't even know where to stay at Radha Kunda you obviously haven't spent much time there. Get your guru's blessings and come to the Dham with some caution before jumping into a hasty decision is my best advice.