PART 2 CHAPTERS 8 TO 11
DIET & LIFESTYLE FOR HEALTH AND HARMONY
CHAPER 8 GUIDELINES ON DIET & LIFESTYLE FOR HEALTH & HARMONY
8.8 PATHWAY TO HARMONY PART I - DIET
8.9 PATHWAY TO HARMONY PART II - LIFESTYLE
CHAPTER 9 FRUIT THE WONDER FOOD
Food Prayer
ब्रह्मार्पणं ब्रह्म हविः ब्रह्माग्नौ ब्रह्मणा हुतम् ।
ब्रह्मैव तेन गन्तव्यं ब्रह्मकर्मसमाधिना ॥ 4.24 ॥
Brahmarpanam Brahma Havir Brahmagnau Brahmanaahutam
Brahmaiva Tena Ghantavyam Brahmakarma Samadhina
Bhagavad Gita Ch 4, v.24
अहं वैश्वानरो भूत्वा प्राणिनां देहमाश्रितः।
प्राणापानसमायुक्तः पचाम्यन्नं चतुर्विधम् ॥ 15.14 ॥
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥
Aham Vaishvanaro Bhutva Praninaam Dehamaashritaha
Pranapana Samayuktah Pachaamyannam Chaturvidham
Bhagavad Gita Ch 15, v.14
Om Shanthi... Shanthi... Shanthi...
Before eating our food we must offer it to the Lord both as a gesture of gratefulness for his kindness in providing for us and as a means of purifying the food.
The above two slokas (verses) from the Bhagavad Gita are to be chanted (aloud or in the mind) in order to call upon the "Divine Power" to purify the food, to eat it and to digest it.
Chant this food prayer and get rid of the impurities of food which creep in through impure ingredients, through carelessly cleaned vessels and utensils, and through the thoughts of the person cooking the food.
The act of eating is to be considered a sacrifice, a holy act in which the body is the sacrificial fire and which works as a medium for conveying the "sacrifice" to God.
The first sloka states that in this sacrificial fire, the oblation is Brahman (God), the clarified butter (the food) is Brahman, offered by Brahman, in the fire of Brahman; unto Brahman verily he goes who cognizes Brahman alone in his actions.
By repeating this sloka we are surrendering the action of offering the food, eating the food and digesting the food to God. When actions are thus surrendered, they are purified.
In the second sloka Lord Krishna states that "abiding in the body of living beings as Vaishwaanara (digestive fire i.e. the enzymes and all bodily secretions used for the digesting of food), associated with Prana and Apana, I digest the four kinds of food."
The four kinds of food referred to here for our purposes are :
a food that has to be eaten by mastication (chewing);
b food that has to be sucked;
c food that has to be licked and,
d food that has to be devoured or swallowed
The Lord has given us the assurance that He is the digestive fire in the body - all we have to do is to remember this fact with deep gratitude by reciting this sloka.
Om Peace ! Peace ! Peace !
