Obstacles Bhakti - Kunjeshwari Home

Obstacles in Bhakti
Gour Kripa – Not at all, there is no contradiction. The verse that you quoted
is meant for the non-devotees. 1 This is not for serious practitioners of bhakti.
You may say – this verse does not mention it. Our reply is that – a Vaishnav
in the renounced order will never accept Mahâprasâdam out of greed or
amusement; only a great materialist will amuse himself with prasâd. You also
mentioned ‘out of devotion’. Well, this is also meant for non-devotees.
Otherwise there is no parity between Sriman-Mahâprabhu’s words and the
statement of the Shâstra. You surely do not think that Sriman-Mahâprabhu
will instruct us against the Shâstras!
We have already agreed that each and every Vaishnav eats nothing but
prasâdam. However the question may arise – what about the non-devotees?
If they ‘fill themselves to the brim’ with prasâdam that is offered by the
host’s ill-gotten money, then even their minds should get polluted. Instead
the verse is saying that they will be freed of all sins! Point one, However, the
non-devotees anyway keep eating food that is anti-bhakti. Also they do not
constantly in Bhagavad-bhajan; in stead they are always busy in material
pursuit. Therefore their minds are already polluted or ‘malin’ (as per Sriman-
Mahâprabhu). After all, the definition of ‘malin’ is – “not remembering Sri
Krishna and engrossment in material endeavors. The mind of a non-devotee
cannot get any more polluted than it already is. Therefore in his case
Mahâprasâdam will free him of his sins and draw him to the path of pure
devotion, since one can take to this path only after his sins have been
destroyed.
Another point. Mostly we think whatever is offered to the Deity is ‘prasâdam’.
But does He really accept everything that we offer? One may offer food to
the Deities and prasâdam to the Vaishnavs with ill-gotten money just to
launder away his sins. It may be that some unclean person may be cooking
or the cook gets angry while cooking and he shouts in anger and
unknowingly spit from his mouth may land in the bhog. We sometimes
prepare food thinking not of the Deities but rather about the ones who will
take the prasâdam – that decides the quality and quantity of bhog. This
means that mentally we have already offered the bhog to them. The one who
will offer the bhog may (due to some reason) offer with irritation. In all these
cases does the Lord truly accept the bhog? Of course we accept all food
offered in these manners as ‘prasâdam’ and certainly we cannot compare it
with un-offered food, if serious devotees gorge on such prasâdam then surely
the quality of food will take its toll on our spiritual health. There is no second
thought about this. Very often we find such contaminations in the megafeasts.
When the Lord truly accepts the bhog it gets absolutely transformed. It
becomes transcendental and it is extremely rare. We see in Sri Chaitanya-
Charitâmrita –
“The servants of Lord Jagannâth brought out the Mahâprasâdam and
approached Sriman-Mahâprabhu. They honoured Him with the prasâdi
garland and placed the prasâd in His hands. Forget the taste; its mere
fragrance was enough to make one dizzy with ecstasy. The prasâd was
priceless and the servant insistently requested the Lord to taste a little. Lord
Gourânga placed a bit on His tongue and tied the remaining in the end of
1
Mahâprasâdam will draw them to the path of pure devotion.
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