Obstacles Bhakti - Kunjeshwari Home

Obstacles in Bhakti
Meaning - "My dear child, whenever you get prasâdam offered to Sri Hari
partake of it there itself. Have no doubt regarding this.” –(Bhavishya Purân)
Bhâvishya Purân also says –
“vishnor-niveditânne cha sparsha-dosho na vidyate,
yasya sandarshanenaiva naro bhâvati pavanah.”
Meaning - "Man gets purified immediately upon seeing the food offered to Sri
Vishnu, such food is never contaminated.”
Then should we not understand that there is no dosh in prasâd and we
should accept it as soon as we receive it? Are you not contradicting the
Shâstras?
Gour Kripa – You are right. However we have to somewhat analyze these
statements. How should we accept prasâd? We should glorify prasâdam and
offer prayers. We should pay it obeisance and then with the utmost
reverence accept very little of it. If we accept prasâdam in this manner then
we shall not commit any dosh. Accepting prasâd does not mean we should
eat like a glutton. We should ponder whether we are truly accepting
prasâdam or satisfying our greedy tongue. If I accept prasâdam as
ordinary food then ordinary food will have its effect on me. There is
an incident in ‘Vaishnav-jivani’ – When siddha baba partook of prasâdam in
Govindadev Mandir of Jaipur, he experienced lust 1 .
Moreover Sriman-Mahâprabhu has said – “bishoyir anna khâile molin hoy
mon.” Our mind becomes impure when we eat the offering of a materialist.”
He has also said – “bhâlo nâ khâibe âr bhâlo nâ poribe” – “Neither eat nor
dress well.” He knows that every Vaishnav accepts only prasâdam; therefore
he is referring to prasâdam only and surely not to food that is not offered ! Is
Sriman-Mahâprabhu contradicting the shâstras or are we disregarding the
Lord when we fill ourselves up to the throat? Vaisnav-jivani states that when
great saints accepted the prasâd offered by a prostitute’s money, all of them
experienced nocturnal emission. We all know this fact. Surely those saints
did not eat un-offered food? Even that was prasâdam – then why did it have
such a negative impact?
Vivek das – Alright. Maybe I accept what you say. However the shâstras say
–
“bhaktyâ lobham koutakâdvâ kshudhâ samyamanena vâ,
âkantha-bhakshitam taddhi punâti sakalâmhasah.”
Meaning - "The one who partakes of fills himself with Mahâprasâdam up to
the brim – whether out of devotion or greed or amusement or hunger, he is
freed of all sins.” – (Skanda Purân)
Are you not contradicting the scriptures?
1
Since that prasâdam was offered by a prostitute. Although she was purified by feeding
the Vaishnavs, they got the outcome of eating food offered by ill-gotten wealth.
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