Why do we offer Naivedyam to God - Satyanarayana

[Guest guest]

Dear Raghav Garu,

 

All your expositions on " Naivedyam " were very

interesting reading. Please allow me to add one more

thought. It is little voluminous but could not help.

It is important to note at first that we Hindus have a

unique way of consuming food as prescribed by our

ancient sages. The offer(consuming food) is made with

all the Pancha Indriyas participating! You of course

see with your eyes what you eat; you also smell what

you eat; you then taste it; more important, you touch

it with your hand and lastly you are alert with your

ears while you eat (The reciting of mantra before

eating ensures this)! The food ofcourse must be

pleasing to all these Indriyas. As, it is always a

Naivedyam!

You are trained from the day of upanayanam to recall

with so many mantras, WHY you eat(Again, in the form

of Mantra), just before you have an intake. Frankly,

this is so for even drinking water(There is a Veda

mantra for this). It is an offering to the Eternal

fire in the stomach! The Yagna Ahuthi!!

Be that as it may, every being's continued existence

is guaranteed by the generation of five winds-- Prana,

Apana, Vyana, Udhana and Samana. The last three

activities are concerned with converting the intake

into different forms energy. There is one more (apart

from the five mentioned) activity usually mentioned in

the rituals-- Brahmane Swaha, which is the only

reality! What ever food you take-in, for whatever

energy generation,ultimately it is an offering to

Brahman and that is the Essence. Because the progress,

what we talk of constantly and grope all through life

is real only and only if the movement(Dynamics of

energy)is towards the realisation of that reality

called Brahma Gyana. And no doubt all are tending

towards that goal, some take the shortest and direct

route and others (not being aware) take circuitous

routes to reach the goal maybe in one lakh janmas!

 

Evidently,if the Naivedya is offered in the true

spirit the eatable gets converted into prasadam

because there is the Presence of that spirit, mainly

in the form of YOUR Consciousness. One of the first

steps in Brahma Vidya teaches that Consciousness is

BRAHMAN!

 

With Love

Choudur Satyanarayana Moorthy

[Guest guest]

Dear Raghav Garu,

 

After sending the under mentioned mail yesterday, I

realised that I should have offered a little more

clarification.

 

At the outset a para needs to be inserted. What is

Naivedyam? Naivedyam means simply " THAT WHICH LEADS TO

KNOWLEDGE! " In these matters, the peception is more

important and not an analytical and pedantic

knowledge. That is why our greatest works do not bear

signatures of the Rishis! The fact is we are dealing

with PERCEPTION itself!!

 

Next we need to examine the Naivedya Padartham. The

Padartham should be Madhuram-Pleasant. The word

Padartha itself means " THE MEANING OF THE WORD " ! This

is in keeping with the finding of the modern science

of Quantum Physics. In the ultimate analysis, all

matter is energy!

 

Next the question arises, the Naivedya should be

pleasant to whom? To the Indriyas ofcourse! What are

the Indriyas? The Indriyas-whether yours or mine are

the abode of Devas! And their king is INDRA-the mind!

And the ultimate ruler is Madhusudana in Hridaya

Padma! Incidentally you may realise that the world is

in Indriyas. No Indriyas no World! Here we are

witnessing the progression of physical matter into

spirituality in the onward journey to a state of

Consciousness! Mind you, all these happen in

Naimesharanya- the forest of moments!

 

Whether Naivedya is offered at the Shodasa ritual or

during the daily intake the preparatory conception is

exactly the same! The ends are also alike!

 

With Love

Choudur Satyanarayana Moorthy

Eden Prairie MN USA

satyanarayan moorthy <choudur