The recent pandemic outbreak has forced many people to go back to their roots and find preventive cure in traditional herbs. There is also a renewed interest towards traditional food and native traditions.
As the New Year sets in and with Pongal and Lohri festivities round the corner, Pujya Swamiji gives us spiritual insights on food that many of take for granted on our table.
annädbhavanti bhütäni parjanyäd annasambhavaù
yajïädbhavati parjanyo yajïaù karmasamudbhavaù (Bhagavad Gita)
Living beings are born of food; food is born of rain; rain is born of yajna (punya); and yajna (punya) is born of action.
Krsna then went on to say that the food itself is born from rain. If there were no rains, there would be no food. The entire earth would be a desert, and sand would be the only food. The rain, in turn, Krsna said, is born of yajna, your daily prayers acknowledging the blessings of the devatäs.
A prayer does not produce a tangible result immediately. It produces an unseen result, which, in turn, produces the tangible result later. Without karma you can produce neither seen nor unseen results.
Propitiation of Ishvara as Sun, Bhuumi, Varuna and Indra that help us with rain which in turn gives us food is mature acknowledgement of life as Prasada from Ishvara.