Lord Sri Krishna at Udupi |
Even to this day, during important festivals and functions, it is not uncommon in our family to cook food using firewood and/or charcoal. Food cooked in charcoal or fire wood is considered to be more sacred. This is called, in orthodox vernacular parlance, as "MADI ADIGE (ಮಡಿ ಅಡುಗೆ )".
I have been brought up in an orthodox setting with fair degree of space for free speech and action. In fact, my wife and my mother originally belonged to the Smartha community of Brahmins (Followers of Adwaitha, called Smarthas), the community who believe in the teachings of Shankaracharya , another great saint and scholar of 8th century AD.
I am a great believer in God.I respect rituals and customs. Even to this day, i perform Sandhavandhane atleast once a day .Though i believe in many principles and customs of my religion (and or cast), i am also a little rebellious on certain aspects of customs.
Before i continue, i make a disclaimer that my intention here is not to hurt the religious sentiments of anyone. I am only trying to put my thoughts.
I have been making some pilgrimage of late. I believe in pilgrimages. I have great faith in religious places like Mantralaya, Udupi, Sringeri, Kukke subramanya etc. By grace of god, I have visited the above places quite a few times during the last few years. But over the years, i notice that there is an over riding effect of rituals and customs on people than the virtue of god (Or the idea of god). "Bhakthi" or devotion has taken a back seat in comparison with practices, customs, rituals and procedures.
Let me give some examples.
Last Sunday (31 March 2013), i had been to Udupi, the temple of Lord Krishna. The idol in the Krishna temple is installed by Madhwacharya. By grace of god, this was my second visit to Udupi in the last few months. It is a normal practice in all the coastal temples of Karnataka (Udupi being one) to serve food (lunch) for the devotees who come there. In most temples, it is also a normal practice to serve food for the Brahmins separately.
Apart from normal servings to the Brahmins, In udupi (and in mantralaya), there is also a separate round of serving of food for the Brahmins (mostly exclusive to Madhwa brahmins) along with the swamigalu in peetha (the seer in charge). It is normally considered sacred to have food in this batch of serving since the seer in-charge is considered to be equivalent to Madhwacharya. In orthodox vernacular parlance, this is called "Chowki Pangathi" (ಚೌಕಿ ಪಂಗತಿ).
On this visit, i did go for my lunch to this chowki Pangathi. I was accompanied by my cousin Pavan. The food we had was one of the best meals i have ever had. There was for sure the divine grace of Lord Sri krishna in that awesome meal.
But i was a little disappointed by the attitude of some people there. Most people, rather i must say most self proclaimed "Maha Brahmins" (High brahmins) were more bothered about the rituals and procedures before and after the food rather than the food itself. I was aghast by the amount of food that was wasted by the people who sat along with me for the food in the Chowki Pangathi.
What is more disappointing is that, this food is considered to be Prasada (Blessing) of Lord Sri Krishna and it is taken in the divine presence of Sri Madhwacharya (in the form of seer or Pontiff In-charge). It is believed to be very sacred.
Some self proclaimed high Brahmins were just more interested in putting their Kacche panche (ಕಚ್ಚೆ ಪಂಚೆ ) straight and putting the angara and akshathe properly. They were interested in the water to perform their rituals before taking the food. At the end of all this, What do they do?They waste most of their food!!
I do not understand why , we , the so called elite Brahmins have failed to understand that the rituals performed during the meals are intrinsically derived from the value and divinity of the food itself. Thus wasting food in a way is showing disrespect to god.
Consider for example, before having food we say "satyam tvartena parishincami" and encircle our food with water. That is, we say, O Food! You are True. I encircle you with divine righteousness.
Is it fair to waste this divinity and put it in garbage? I feel we need to introspect seriously on this. Are we being fair to ourselves or at least to the god we believe in ?
People can always say "No" if they do not need something. Nothing wrong in saying "No". For some reason, in our customs it is inappropriate to say "No" for the food servings but it is alright to waste the served food.
On a more global level, i have observed many people cutting Queues in these places. Be it Tirupathi, Udupi or Mantralaya, some people always look at a way to by-pas the queue. Even the so called educated brahmins look at somehow sneaking in the middle. I have even observed these maha brahmins cutting the queue so that they can attend the chowki pangathi.
Some people after finishing the first round of Darshana, look at somehow squeezing themselves again in the middle of the queue for the second round of darshana. I do not know how fair is this practice. How can people be so inconsiderate for the other people waiting behind. Are we being fair to god by doing this? I feel we need to introspect seriously on these practices.
I have been making some pilgrimage of late. I believe in pilgrimages. I have great faith in religious places like Mantralaya, Udupi, Sringeri, Kukke subramanya etc. By grace of god, I have visited the above places quite a few times during the last few years. But over the years, i notice that there is an over riding effect of rituals and customs on people than the virtue of god (Or the idea of god). "Bhakthi" or devotion has taken a back seat in comparison with practices, customs, rituals and procedures.
Last Sunday (31 March 2013), i had been to Udupi, the temple of Lord Krishna. The idol in the Krishna temple is installed by Madhwacharya. By grace of god, this was my second visit to Udupi in the last few months. It is a normal practice in all the coastal temples of Karnataka (Udupi being one) to serve food (lunch) for the devotees who come there. In most temples, it is also a normal practice to serve food for the Brahmins separately.
Apart from normal servings to the Brahmins, In udupi (and in mantralaya), there is also a separate round of serving of food for the Brahmins (mostly exclusive to Madhwa brahmins) along with the swamigalu in peetha (the seer in charge). It is normally considered sacred to have food in this batch of serving since the seer in-charge is considered to be equivalent to Madhwacharya. In orthodox vernacular parlance, this is called "Chowki Pangathi" (ಚೌಕಿ ಪಂಗತಿ).
On this visit, i did go for my lunch to this chowki Pangathi. I was accompanied by my cousin Pavan. The food we had was one of the best meals i have ever had. There was for sure the divine grace of Lord Sri krishna in that awesome meal.
But i was a little disappointed by the attitude of some people there. Most people, rather i must say most self proclaimed "Maha Brahmins" (High brahmins) were more bothered about the rituals and procedures before and after the food rather than the food itself. I was aghast by the amount of food that was wasted by the people who sat along with me for the food in the Chowki Pangathi.
What is more disappointing is that, this food is considered to be Prasada (Blessing) of Lord Sri Krishna and it is taken in the divine presence of Sri Madhwacharya (in the form of seer or Pontiff In-charge). It is believed to be very sacred.
Some self proclaimed high Brahmins were just more interested in putting their Kacche panche (ಕಚ್ಚೆ ಪಂಚೆ ) straight and putting the angara and akshathe properly. They were interested in the water to perform their rituals before taking the food. At the end of all this, What do they do?They waste most of their food!!
I do not understand why , we , the so called elite Brahmins have failed to understand that the rituals performed during the meals are intrinsically derived from the value and divinity of the food itself. Thus wasting food in a way is showing disrespect to god.
Consider for example, before having food we say "satyam tvartena parishincami" and encircle our food with water. That is, we say, O Food! You are True. I encircle you with divine righteousness.
Is it fair to waste this divinity and put it in garbage? I feel we need to introspect seriously on this. Are we being fair to ourselves or at least to the god we believe in ?
People can always say "No" if they do not need something. Nothing wrong in saying "No". For some reason, in our customs it is inappropriate to say "No" for the food servings but it is alright to waste the served food.
On a more global level, i have observed many people cutting Queues in these places. Be it Tirupathi, Udupi or Mantralaya, some people always look at a way to by-pas the queue. Even the so called educated brahmins look at somehow sneaking in the middle. I have even observed these maha brahmins cutting the queue so that they can attend the chowki pangathi.
Some people after finishing the first round of Darshana, look at somehow squeezing themselves again in the middle of the queue for the second round of darshana. I do not know how fair is this practice. How can people be so inconsiderate for the other people waiting behind. Are we being fair to god by doing this? I feel we need to introspect seriously on these practices.
Hello Sunil,
ReplyDeleteIt is very important point you have brought in. It is very important for us to understand the potency of Prasadam. The literal meaning of the Sanskrit word “prasadam” is mercy. So when we say “Krishna prasadam” we are referring to Krishna’s mercy. So it is non different from Lord Krishna himself. Prasadam is the remnants of something that has been prepared for the pleasure of Krishna with love and offered to Him for His enjoyment. So if anyone is wasting them, is certainly making a big offense. Lord Krsna says in Bhagavad Gita,
yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santo
mucyante sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ
bhuñjate te tv aghaṁ pāpā
ye pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt
"The devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food which is offered first for sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin."
So, Prasadam is the means of getting away from our sins. So prime due respect should be given to Prasadam. We shouldn't look into that as mere food to fill our belly, but we should honour it with utmost respect as it mercy of Lord Krishna.
If a devotee doesn't want to eat anything, he can personally say no to it, but certainly in his heart he can pay respects to the prasadam. Rather, wasting it on his plate. It is the attitude in which how we treat mercy of Lord is what Lord looks into, not the how strictly we follow the rituals.
Finally, One request to you Sunil, Please don't use the word IDOL, it gives a wrong meaning. IDOL is something which doesn't do anything. Please term it as DEITY,(archa vigraha), we personally invite the Lord to come and stay over when we do prathista of the vigraha. So that Lord Krishna can reciprocate with us through the form of DEITY.
Regards,
Sravan
So true! Sit back and think about it.
ReplyDelete1... wasting food is common sight in India in every samaradhane.. irrespective of caste.
ReplyDelete2...Wasting food is also a function of how much is served versus how much one can eat. careful serving can lead to lesser wastage but careful serving needs more manpower/volunteers to serve.
The blame is not always on the person eating.
3...Is it possible that "madi adige" is considered "sacred" but the underlying message being slow-heat cooking through firewood is better than quick-heat cooking ?
4... While Mathas may be about Faith, it is also commonly understood to centers of culture and tradition. So, it is normal for people to comply or experience the tradition of wearing the kachche panche or the angara akshathe. Ifone does tries to comply with the unwritten dress code in a Matha, why should anybody have an objection ?
Here are my comments:
Delete1. I do not think wasting food is common everywhere.
2. Your second point is quite meaningless. Person who is eating can always say "no" or ask for little serving. It is highly irrational to say that food is wasted because more food is served and the person eating has no control over the food served.
3. One can always consider food not be sacred if the underlying intent is to justify the action.
4. I have no objections on anyone following any tradition in the Mathas. My only argument is that wasting food must not become a tradition.(If unfortunately it has become a tradition, there is a need for urgent reform).
Sunil avare,
ReplyDeleteCame across this post by chance. Was really happy to read what you have written. Completely agree with your opinions. Most often we find two extreme opinions, one set of people who feel that anything old or traditional is not worth following and question all the things and the other set who cling very tightly to the prescribed practices without even thinking why someone set up those practices in the first place. What education about our own culture should do is to make us understand what is the symbolism and thought behind the ritual/practice and we question if our actions are doing justice to the thought behind this. If we pursue and understand our culture this way, I am sure 99% of our practices make genuine sense. Practice of rituals should inculcate discipline and make us constantly think of the thought behind it. Only with this can we really benefit from the great teachings of Acharya Madhwa.
Your writeup also touched me for a different reason. I am also a Madhwa interested in learning more about our philosophy and I too follow quite a few rituals, but in the sense I described above. I too have a wife whose mother was Smartha but my wife follows things as per the customs in our family. In fact, habba haridinagalige, namma manenallu, swalpa hecchu madi mailige acharane nadiyutte eegalu madi kaaryakke kacche haaki seere uttikondu, ijjalu upayogisine madi adige maadodu. Yaara ottayadindanu alla, nambikeyinda.
Very nice to come across someone like you. Harivaayugurugalu nimage olledumaadali anta haaraisutteeni.
Murali
Thank you very much Murali Sir.. Hare Srinivasa..
ReplyDeleteAlthough this post is quite old, I happened to go through while searching for good food at mantralayam.
ReplyDeleteIt is so true that the customs and traditions are very much required, but that should not be overriding the actual intent... Some times I worry that, these unwanted rituals are being followed more seriously by well educates n professionals, than our elders