DISCOURSE – 3 (March 23, 2021)

So, the third pillar of Siddhi is, “Seeing Food as a Yagya (Sacrifice/Offering)”. That is, “You are able to see Food as God”.

10:57 – 20:25 : Because, Food is God only, The enjoyer of food is also God, and The maker of food is also God.

(Quoting a daily duty prayer from Swamiji’s book – The Ancient Science of Mantras)

हर्रि दाता हर्रि भोक्ता हर्रि अन्नं प्रजापति |
हर्रि: सर्व शरीरस्थो भोक्ते भुज्यते हरी: ||

Harir Data Harir Bhokta Harirannam Prajapati |
Harirah Sarva Sarirastho Bhokte Bhojayate Hari ||

God is the giver, God is the consumer, God is food and the creator of food. God is present in every pore of my body. Verily, God alone is granting, consuming and digesting food. 

If everything is God only, and if we eat in such sentiments, then your “Trikala Sandhya” (Three-time Prayers) is automatically completing, without any special efforts! A person who eats thrice a day, it’s his/her Trikala Sandhya only! At the time when we are eating food, if we are talking a lot, if we are laughing out loud, then such food becomes Rajasik (In the mode of Passion). And, if you are finding faults in your food, criticising somebody, then such food becomes Tamasik (In the mode of Ignorance). And, if you are eating with a peaceful mind, then it becomes Sattvik (In the mode of Goodness). Because, you have to keep one thing in mind, if you have not prepared your food, then what God wants you to eat, you will have to eat that only! 

And, I can say with absolute certainty, if you eat food in such sentiments, you will get all sorts of good food!

When I was at the Ashram of Naga Baba (Naga Saint), then there, (I have written this in my autobiography) there was a big problem of food. The flour was mixed with soil, I ate that also. Vegetables were devoid of any Ghee or Oil, as if they were made in water, I ate that also. But, never did I complain about it, either in my mind, or through words. I thought, “यही भगवान खिलाना चाह रहे हैं, यही श्रेष्ट है (This is what God wants me to eat, and hence it is best”! Have I left my home, so that I can enjoy all sorts of palatable foods? No. For that purpose, I will make an Ashram!! (Laughter). Why have I left my home? To break my ego, I have left my home. To attain Self-Realisation, I have left my home. To become One with my deity, I have left my home. To make Siddha (Accomplised), Sadhya (Deity), Sadhana (Spiritual Practice) and Sadhan (Resources), One, I have left my home. To attain my Sattva, I have left my home. For the betterment of this world, I have left my home. I didn’t leave my home, so that, I could say, “Today, salt is less. Today, masala (spices) is less. Today, food isn’t good etc”. 

जाहि विधि राखे राम ताहि विधि रहिये |

Jahi vidhi raakhe ram, taahi vidhi rahiye.

Live the way God wants you to live.

I ate the food which I received. For 6 months, Raghu Swami was with me, in the woods. Even once, if he could say that I pointed out some flaw in my food. He used to wake up at night, and prepare meals for me. He used to start at 2:00-2:30 AM, and a lot of times, it used to be very dark. So, if sometimes I got insects in my food, I didn’t say to Swamiji, “Swamiji, what is this!!”, I said to myself, “आज भगवान की यही इच्छा है। (This is what God desires today)”. I didn’t eat the food with insects, without complaining. The next day, as I was very hungry, the food automatically tasted great!! 

God sent Raghu Swami, as if he were an Anjaneya (Hanuman ji), in my service. How he came here to Badrinath, stayed in forest, used to climb trees for cutting wood, not that branch on which he was seating, of course! (Laughter). Bringing water, bringing wood, preparing meals every 24 hours. This in itself, was his Sadhana. Maybe that’s why lord Shri Hari has kept him in his Sewa (Service). He is the one who gets to visit Shri Hari first, before anyone, everyday. 

So, 

भ्राजिष्णु भोजनं भोक्ता

Brajishnur bhojanam Bhokhta

One who is pure luminosity, is the food and the enjoyer of food.

– Shloka 16, Vishnu Sahasaranama, Mahabharata

I thought that the food itself is God only. So, who’s sight is so capable enough to find flaws in food? 

In Sadhana time, if you want to destroy your Tapas (Austerity), then start finding out flaws. If you are finding out flaws in food, then you are abusing the food, that Prasadam. 

So, at Naga Baba’s place, because of the kind of food I was getting, I fell ill also. My health was also very bad. And, neither my stomach was feeling full. And the entire day, I had to do a lot of work and service. There was helter-skelter too, I had to do a lot of publicity too. I had to teach in school, and I had to see the construction work also. The work would seem never-ending! I thought only one thing, “जिस दिन माँ जगदम्बा की इच्छा होगी, और वो भोजन बदलना चाहेंगी, तो बदल देंगी। (The day Mother Divine wishes to change my food, she would change it)”. Do you think that it is very difficult for the one, who is operating the entire creation, to change food? And this is what happened. I didn’t say anything to anybody, and didn’t even order anything from anybody. There only, inside School, there was a shop, where biscuits were sold. I used to buy from there only. Besides that, I didn’t have any hope from anybody to bring me something good to eat. जो मिल रहा है, वही खाऊंगा। (I will eat whatever I am getting). 

And then, a day came, when Ranjay Pandey saw my condition. He himself said, “I can’t see you like this. You don’t have anything to eat.” Not that the food isn’t good, there is no food to eat at all! He said, “I can’t see you in this condition. Please come with us, here you are being harassed”! I said to him, “हमने अपने गुरु स्थान के बारे में, या गुरु के बारे में, किसी को भी, कुछ भी ऐसा बोलने का अधिकार नहीं दिया है, जो एक शिष्य को नहीं सुनना चाहिए। नागा बाबा किसी के लिए कैसे भी हों, मेरे लिए गुरु हैं। मेरे लिए वो इश्वर हैं। (I have not given anyone the right to speak anything, which a disciple shouldn’t hear, about the Guru or the Guru place. No matter how Naga Baba is to anyone, He is a Guru to me. He is God for me)”.

So, Ranjay Pandey said, “Can I bring food for you?”. I said, “I can’t allow this, without the permission of Naga Baba”. He replied, “It is Naga Baba only, who has said it to me! He has said that he doesn’t even know what you are eating. So, if I bring some food for you, then no issues at all”. So, Ranjay Pandey said, “Lord, I can bring food for you everyday, as I come here regularly”. So, he started bringing food twice a day, but I thought that it is becoming very troublesome for him. So, after 3-4 days, I asked him to bring food only once. I will eat food at 4-5 PM, instead of 11 AM. So, there is no need to bring food twice a day. 

But, just see what was the reward of seeing Food as God! When I went in the woods, when I did Sadhana, when I called out Mother Divine, when I prayed to Lord Narayana, neither my consciousness had any affliction with respect to anything, nor knowingly, did I do any action which would result in me bowing my head down (in repentance). Because the activity of bowing your head down, must be done only in Bhakti (Devotion/Surrender), only in Worship.