God's Eating - The Transcendental Enjoyment of the Supreme Lord
One of the most fundamental differences between atheistic philosophy and the path of bhakti-yoga centers on the concept of God's senses. Atheists and impersonalists argue that God cannot have a personal form or engage in activities like eating, mistakenly assuming that if God eats, He must be subject to material hunger and physical limitations. The Vedic literatures, however, reveal a deeply personal and scientifically absolute understanding of the Supreme Lord's activities. The Supreme Personality of Godhead does indeed eat, but not out of necessity. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Lord eats purely to reciprocate the love of His devotees. By understanding the omnipotent nature of the Lord's senses, the mystery of how He consumes offerings while leaving them physically intact, and how He accepts food through His pure representatives, we can enter into the most intimate, loving relationship with the Absolute Truth.
The Omnipotent Senses of the Lord
The Supreme Lord is not bound by the limitations of mundane anatomy. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that because the Lord's body is completely spiritual (sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha), His senses are interchangeable. He can perform any action with any part of His body, allowing Him to eat an offering simply by glancing upon it.
- In the Brahma-samhita it is said that the Lord has a transcendental form and that He can utilize any one of His senses for any purpose. For example, He can eat with His eyes, and He can see with His leg.
- The Brahma-samhita describes each of His (God's) senses as omnipotent. The mundane eye can see but not hear, but His eyes can see, hear, eat, generate offspring, and so on.
- It is further stated that with each and every part of His body He can do the work of the other senses. This means that the Lord can walk with His hands, accept things with His legs, see with His hands and feet, eat with His eyes, etc.
- You pour water on the leg of the tree, it becomes very luxuriant, healthy. So different. And so far God is concerned, He can eat with legs; He can see with hands; He can eat with eyes. That is God.
Eating the Love of the Devotee
Why does the creator of the universe, who possesses everything, ask us to offer Him food? Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that the Lord is completely self-satisfied and never hungry. He accepts our simple vegetarian offerings solely to accept our devotion and allow us to engage in a loving relationship with Him.
- The Lord is never hungry, nor does He require any food to fill His empty stomach. He is complete in Himself. Yet He always mercifully eats the foods offered by His devotees in sincere affection.
- One cannot satisfy the Supreme Lord by his riches, wealth or opulent position, but anyone can collect a little fruit or a flower and offer it to the Lord. The Lord says that if one brings such an offering in devotion, He will accept it and eat it.
- Because He (The Lord) is very merciful and is bhakta-vatsala, very favorable to the devotees, He certainly eats whatever they offer Him with love and devotion. This quality should not be misjudged to be childish.
- He (Krsna) is being served by many thousands of goddess of fortune. Then what is this value of this leaf and flower and fruit? But still, He says, tad aham asnami, "Yes, I eat them." And once God eats from your hand, then your life is successful.
The Miracle of Prasādam
Atheists often mock the process of offering food to the Deity, arguing that because the food remains physically on the plate, God did not eat it. Śrīla Prabhupāda beautifully defeats this logic by explaining the absolute nature of the Lord, who can eat everything while simultaneously leaving everything behind as prasādam (mercy).
- The atheists cannot understand how the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appearing in the form of the Deity, can eat all the food offered by His devotees.
- The Lord is purna, complete, and therefore He eats everything offered by His devotees. However, by the touch of His transcendental hand, all the food remains exactly as before. It is the quality that is changed.
- Before the food was offered, it was something else, but after it is offered the food acquires a transcendental quality. Because the Lord is purna, He remains the same even after eating.
- He (God) is the complete whole, and therefore whatever He may eat as offered by the devotee is accepted because of the devotee's love, but again it is returned as prasada for the devotee so that he can be happy by eating.
Eating Through Representatives
In addition to directly accepting offerings on the altar, the Lord formally accepts offerings through authorized Vedic representatives. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the sacrificial fire (yajña) and the mouths of pure Vaiṣṇavas and qualified brāhmaṇas serve directly as the mouth of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- The fire ceremony means fire is also representation of yajna-purusa, and through fire, the yajna-purusa eats, purusottama.
- According to the Vedic injunctions, a brahmana is the mouth of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; therefore in all rituals a brahmana is offered food because when a brahmana eats, it is considered that the Supreme Lord Himself eats.
- Brahmana-bhojana, feeding of the brahmanas, is also recommended, for when the brahmanas eat sumptuous remnants of food after yajna, this is another way that Lord Visnu Himself eats.
- The Lord also relishes giving to the Vaisnava's mouth all eatables offered to Him. It is clear from this verse that the Lord eats through the sacrificial fire and the brahmana's mouth.
Conclusion
A comprehensive study of the Vedic literatures completely dismantles the atheistic and impersonal arguments regarding the Supreme Lord's ability to eat. As Śrīla Prabhupāda masterfully establishes, the Absolute Truth is a person, but His body is entirely transcendental (sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha). Because His senses are omnipotent and interchangeable, He does not require a physical mouth to consume an offering; He can eat simply by glancing over the food with His eyes. Furthermore, the Lord is never hungry. He possesses all opulences and is served by thousands of goddesses of fortune. He requests us to offer Him a simple leaf, fruit, or water not to fill His stomach, but to create a medium for loving exchange. He is hungry only for the love and devotion of His servants. When a pure devotee makes an offering to the Deity, the Lord perfectly reciprocates. Because He is pūrṇa (the complete whole), He fully consumes the offering, yet miraculously leaves it physically intact. By the touch of His transcendental glance, the mundane food is transformed into spiritual prasādam, greatly benefiting the devotee who eats the remnants. The Lord also expertly eats through the medium of the sacrificial fire and through the mouths of qualified Vaiṣṇavas and brāhmaṇas. Ultimately, understanding the science of how God eats is the very essence of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. By learning what the Lord desires, preparing it with devotion, and submissively offering it to Him, the living entity awakens their dormant love and enters into eternal, blissful, personal exchanges with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category God's Eating. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.