Why is Food Exchanged with Hindu Gods - Essay Example

? Why is food exchanged with Hindu Gods? In Hinduism, food is offered to the gods while giving rituals and worshiping. According to Babb, ritual is any form of activity that symbolically conveys information (32). In passing these messages, rituals play a significant role. This is known as Prasad, which means mercy or the divine grace from god. The food offered to the deities is said to bestow religious merit, purifying body, mind and spirit. One of the rituals performed in Hinduism is known as puja. It is an offering done to various deities or special guests. It is done in variety of occasions and settings, but it is mainly performed at home or in public temples. However, Puja has different ritual performances, which basically, exhibit the same structure. Pitar pak, a family rite consisting of simple rituals andinvolves a few participants (Babb 34). The matar festival in whichtheparticipants’ number are in hundreds unlike the pitar Pak. Singing Bhajan and a domestic puja called saptashati path. These ceremonies are performed to persuade deities to grant favors that the worshipper is seeking. Food offering is the central feature of the rituals Hindus perform. Otherwise, without food offering, the ritual would simply not be Puja in the conventional sense of the term. Food is offered to the deity and in turn, the deity in some way partakes of the offering. Sometimes, the consumption of the food is symbolized physically, like in homa where the food is consumed by the fire. Other times the food is set before the god often behind a concealing cloth. In both cases, it is assumed that the deity actually partakes of the food. If the deity does eat the food placed on the altar, the leftover is then taken back for distribution. Upon eating this food, the participants are giving the most profound honor to the god. Therefore, the exchange of food in puja is in consonance with general principles that order Hindu life. More so, it shows that the food exchange that takes place in puja is a necessary pattern of human interaction with the gods. In presenting the food, the deities are paid for the past of future favors. Apart from the food, offering of clothing, money, and precious metals are used to pay the deities. The deities are supposed to be given expensive type of foods, and if simple, they are usually prepared under stringent conditions of purity, which is the universal rule of Hindu ceremonialism (Babb 47). Rituals should be performed to honor god and at the same time to pay the god for all the favors. Several rituals in Hinduism are associated with food. For example, when a child feeds for the first time, it is celebrated as Samskara known as annaprasana. The funeral rite involves offering food to the departed soul. Devout Hindus observe some rituals before eating it. They sprinkle water around the food to purify it and make it worthy to the gods. In addition, they clean the place first because Hindu law books proscribe eating food in dirty places. They offer food to their personal gods before eating. In doing so, one’s body becomes a sacrificial alter. It is also believed that offering the gods food is a mark of self-devotion. As stipulated in the Hindu scriptures, anyone who offers food to gods before eating it come to no harm as the qualities in the food are neutralized by their positive energies. Therefore, it is important that the food is presented to “temple” where the gods are waiting on their altars (Yalman 293) The Hinduism community in honor of the gods holds different festivals, for example, the Annakuta festival. Annakuta literally means, “A hill of food”. On this day, worshippers offer Krishna great varieties and large quantities of vegetarian food. It is a celebration of an event in Krishna’s life. He lifted the mountain of Govardhan for seven days to protect people against the deluge of rain sent by the god of heavens and rains, and that is why Hindus celebrate this day (Toomey 123). They prepare hundreds of different food and take them to the temples to offer to the gods. Orthodox Hindus present meals to God mentally before eating it. They identify it with the element of earth. Most of them are vegetarians because they believe in life’s sanctity. Yajur Veda says, “You should not use the body given by god to kill creatures, whether human or animals” according to them, they eat what determines their mental and physical state. Killing animals for food is regarded as bad karma with consequences involved. They believe that, if they eat animal foods, they may develop animal qualities Bhagavad-Gita 17.8-10 divides food into three classes, those with quality of goodness, quality of passion and those with quality of ignorance. The healthiest ones are foods of goodness. The foods of quality goodness lengthen the period of life purify, one’s survival and give health, strength, and happiness. However, the purpose of food is not only to increase body strength, but to purify the mind also. Therefore, the worshipper offers his food before eating, and such food gives way for spiritual progress. Vedic (Hindu scripture) says that as a sacrifice to God, one should offer all food. “…all that you do, all that you offer and give away, and the austerities that you may perform, should be done as an offering to me” (Bhagavad-Gita 9.27). It specifies exactly what is should be offered as a sacrifice. Life’s purpose for most Hindus is spiritual development. Their highest goal in life is to obtain Moksa, the freedom from worldly existence, contrasted with Bhukti, which is defined as the enjoyment of worldly pleasures. Food is a worldly pleasure, many people find satisfaction in it because of the taste, smell, and it eradicates the feeling of hunger. “With food, a Hindu regulates his mental state send secures spiritual gains”. Hindus are very particular in choosing the food they eat and cautious about where the food comes from. Most definitely, food is a complex aspect of Hinduism. Hindus believe that feeding the gods will keep the distribution cycle of food in motion. Therefore, their worship is taken to a higher level when food is involved. Annam is food and according to Hindu scriptures, Annam is a form of Brahman. The description of Brahman in the Prasna Upanishad is food, “food is in truth the Lord of creation, from food a seed is produced and from this, beings are brought to life.” for Brahman, food is the sense-objects we perceive. That is why food occupies an important part in religious life of Hindus. It is offered to ancestors and gods during ceremonies. Offering food to one’s personal deity before eating helps to neutralize harmful energies contained in the food. In many Hindu rituals, food is offered to appease wild deities or to adore them. Shiva, is given milked that is not boiled and uncooked fruits. Vishnu is given sweet food that is in clarified butter. The Goddess (one who embodies nature) is given blood sacrifices symbolizing that nature is a life taker and a life giver as well. The goddess is also offered chilies and lemons. Hindu’s practice of eating food that has been first offered to god or a goddess is a contagious ritual- they believe that the food is for transmitting divine aura. In Sri-Lanka, the Buddhist just like Hindus offer food sacrifices to god. It is considered as the most universal act there. They offer food as a way of thanking him, they believe that eating food before offering it to god amounts to stealing. When they offer food to god, he takes away the impurities. Some members of the sect also believe that large food offering is a sign of honor to the temple icon (Toomey 134). After all, they say, “we are because of what we think and what we eat is as a result of what we think”. Naivedhya is a meal presented to a Hindu deity as part of a ritual before eating it. Tasting the food before eating it is highly forbidden. It is placed before the god and prayers are offered and then the food is eaten as a holy offering. It is thus, according to Yalman impressive how the food offerings become a constant in Buddha, gods and demons handling (Yalman 288). In conclusion, in Hinduism, food plays a very important role in worshipping gods. The food offered is thought to purify the body, mind and spirit. They offer it inform of thanking the deities for all the favors he has granted, be it past or future favors. They make the preparation of food, offering it to god before eating it a devotional meditation. Their devotion transforms the food offered from nutrition of the body to spiritual mercy. Bhagavad- Gita 3:14 says, “all beings come into existence from food and food comes from the rain which originates from performance of sacrifice”. God is the creator of everything, and so it is only wise that they offer the food to Him first before eating it. Work Cited Babb. The food for the gods: puja Toomey, Paul M. Mountain of Food, Mountain of Love: Ritual Inversion in the Annakuta festival at Mount Govardhan. Yalman, Nur. On the Meaning of Food offerings in Ceylon. Social Compass, (1973/2)pp. 287-302. Read More