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TEXT 26 patram puspam phalam toyam
SYNONYMS  patram--a
leaf; puspam--a flower; phalam--a fruit; toyam--water;
yah--whoever; me--unto Me; bhaktya--with devotion;
prayacchati--offers; tat--that; aham--I; bhakti-upahrtam--offered
in devotion; asnami--accept; prayata-atmanah--of one in pure
consciousness.
TRANSLATION If one offers
Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept
it.
PURPORT Here Lord Krsna,
having established that He is the only enjoyer, the primeval Lord, and
the real object of all sacrificial offerings, reveals what types of sacrifices
He desires to be offered. If one wishes to engage in devotional service
to the Supreme in order to be purified and reach the goal of life--the
transcendental loving service of God--then he should find out what the
Lord desires of him. One who loves Krsna will give Him whatever He wants,
and he avoids offering anything which is undesirable or unasked for. Thus,
meat, fish and eggs should not be offered to Krsna. If He desired such
things as offerings, He would have said so. Instead He clearly requests
that a leaf, fruit, flowers and water be given to Him, and He says of this
offering, "I will accept it." Therefore, we should understand that He will
not accept meat, fish and eggs. Vegetables, grains, fruits, milk and water
are the proper foods for human beings and are prescribed by Lord Krsna
Himself. Whatever else we eat cannot be offered to Him, since He will not
accept it. Thus we cannot be acting on the level of loving devotion if
we offer such foods.
In the Third
Chapter, verse thirteen, Sri Krsna explains that only the remains of sacrifice
are purified and fit for consumption by those who are seeking advancement
in life and release from the clutches of the material entanglement. Those
who do not make an offering of their food, He says in the same verse, are
said to be eating only sin. In other words, their every mouthful is simply
deepening their involvement in the complexities of material nature. But
preparing nice, simple vegetable dishes, offering them before the picture
or Deity of Lord Krsna and bowing down and praying for Him to accept such
a humble offering, enable one to advance steadily in life, to purify the
body, and to create fine brain tissues which will lead to clear thinking.
Above all, the offering should be made with an attitude of love. Krsna
has no need of food, since He already possesses everything that be, yet
He will accept the offering of one who desires to please Him in that way.
The important element, in preparation, in serving and in offering, is to
act with love for Krsna.
The impersonalist
philosophers, who wish to maintain that the Absolute Truth is without senses,
cannot comprehend this verse of Bhagavad-gita. To them, it is either
a metaphor or proof of the mundane character of Krsna, the speaker of the
Gita. But, in actuality, Krsna, the Supreme Godhead, has senses,
and it is stated that His senses are interchangeable; in other words, one
sense can perform the function of any other. This is what it means to say
that Krsna is absolute. Lacking senses, He could hardly be considered full
in all opulences. In the Seventh Chapter, Krsna has explained that He impregnates
the living entities into material nature. This is done by His looking upon
material nature. And so in this instance, Krsna's hearing the devotee's
words of love in offering foodstuffs is wholly identical with His
eating and actually tasting. This point should be emphasized: because of
His absolute position, His hearing is wholly identical with His eating
and tasting. Only the devotee, who accepts Krsna as He describes Himself,
without interpretation, can understand that the Supreme Absolute Truth
can eat food and enjoy it.
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