Advaita Prabhu asked Him to take His bath in the Ganges and took Him to His (Advaita's) house. There all the Navadvīpa devotees, along with mother Śacīdevī, came to see Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. This house was located at Śāntipura. Mother Śacīdevī cooked for Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Nityānanda Prabhu, and at that time there were many joking exchanges between Advaita Prabhu and Nityānanda Prabhu. In the evening there was a mass saṅkīrtana at the house of Advaita Prabhu, and mother Śacīdevī gave Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu permission to leave. She requested Him to make Jagannātha Purī, Nīlācala, His headquarters. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu granted His mother's request and, followed by Nityānanda, Mukunda, Jagadānanda and Dāmodara, left Śāntipura. Bidding farewell to mother Śacīdevī, they all proceeded toward Jagannātha Purī, following the path of Chatrabhoga.
Cooking (CC and Other Books)
Expressions researched:
"cook"
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Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura visited this temple at Vallabhapura. At that time the person in charge was a Śaivite, Śrī Śivacandra Caudhurī, who was a descendant of Kāśīśvara Gosāñi's brother. In Vallabhapura there was a permanent arrangement to cook nine kilos of rice, vegetables and other foodstuffs daily, and near the village there is sufficient land, which belonged to the Deity, on which this rice was grown. Unfortunately, the descendants of Kāśīśvara Gosāñi's brother have sold a major portion of this land, and therefore the Deity worship has now been hampered.
Rāghava Paṇḍita's sister Damayantī was the dear maidservant of the Lord. She always collected various ingredients with which to cook for Lord Caitanya.
The foods Damayantī cooked for Lord Caitanya when He was at Purī were carried in bags by her brother Rāghava without the knowledge of others.
It is stated that Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī, an inhabitant of Navadvīpa, was Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu's first companion in the saṅkīrtana movement. When Lord Caitanya returned from Gayā after initiation, He stayed with Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī because He wanted to hear from this devotee about the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī collected alms of rice from the inhabitants of Navadvīpa, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu took pleasure in eating the rice that he cooked. It is said that Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī was one of the wives of the yajñic brāhmaṇas during the time of Lord Kṛṣṇa's pastimes in Vṛndāvana. Lord Kṛṣṇa begged food from the wives of the yajñic brāhmaṇas, and Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu performed a similar pastime by begging rice from Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī.
Nityānanda Prabhu, however, was older than Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and therefore Lord Caitanya remarked that Murāri Gupta had violated social etiquette, for he should have first shown respect to Nityānanda Prabhu and then to Him. In this way, by the grace of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Murāri Gupta was informed about the position of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, and the next day he offered obeisances first to Lord Nityānanda and then to Lord Caitanya. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu gave chewed pan, or betel nut, to Murāri Gupta. Once Śivānanda Sena offered food to Lord Caitanya that had been cooked with excessive ghee, and the next day the Lord became sick and went to Murāri Gupta for treatment. Lord Caitanya accepted some water from the waterpot of Murāri Gupta, and thus He was cured. The natural remedy for indigestion is to drink a little water, and since Murāri Gupta was a physician, he gave the Lord some drinking water and cured Him.
Śrīdhara was a poor brāhmaṇa who made a living by selling banana-tree bark to be made into cups. Most probably he had a banana-tree garden and collected the leaves, skin and pulp of the banana trees to sell daily in the market. He spent fifty percent of his income to worship the Ganges, and the balance he used for his subsistence. When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu started His civil disobedience movement in defiance of the Kazi, Śrīdhara danced in jubilation. The Lord used to drink water from his water jug. Śrīdhara presented a squash to Śacīdevī to cook before Lord Caitanya took sannyāsa. Every year he went to see Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu at Jagannātha Purī. According to Kavi-karṇapūra, Śrīdhara was a cowherd boy of Vṛndāvana whose name was Kusumāsava.
The temple of Kṛṣṇa Rāya, which was constructed in the year 1708 Śakābda (A.D. 1786) by a prominent zamindar named Nimāi Mullik of Pāthuriyā-ghāṭa in Calcutta, is very large. There is a big courtyard in front of the temple, and there are residential quarters for visitors and good arrangements for cooking prasādam. The entire courtyard is surrounded by very high boundary walls, and the temple is almost as big as the Māheśa temple. Inscribed on a tablet are the names of Śrīnātha Paṇḍita and his father and grandfather and the date of construction of the temple. Śrīnātha Paṇḍita, one of the disciples of Advaita Prabhu, was the spiritual master of the third son of Śivānanda Sena, who was known as Paramānanda Kavi-karṇapūra. It is said that the Kṛṣṇa Rāya Deity was installed during the time of Kavi-karṇapūra.
Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya acted as a brahmacārī, or personal assistant of a sannyāsī. A sannyāsī is not supposed to cook. Generally a sannyāsī takes prasādam at the house of a gṛhastha, and a brahmacārī helps in this connection. A sannyāsī is supposed to be a spiritual master and a brahmacārī his disciple. Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya acted as a brahmacārī for Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu when the Lord toured Mathurā and Vṛndāvana.
Raghunātha Bhaṭṭācārya, or Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, one of the Six Gosvāmīs, was the son of Tapana Miśra. Born in approximately 1425 Śakābda (A.D. 1503), he was expert in reciting Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and in Antya-līlā, Chapter Thirteen, it is stated that he was also expert in cooking; whatever he cooked would be nectarean. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was greatly pleased to accept the food that he cooked, and Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa used to take the remnants of food left by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Raghunātha Bhaṭṭācārya lived for eight months in Jagannātha Purī, after which Lord Caitanya ordered him to go to Vṛndāvana to join Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī.
"The history of the Jagannātha temple in Māheśa is as follows. One devotee of the name Dhruvānanda went to see Lord Jagannātha, Balarāma and Subhadrā at Jagannātha Purī, wanting to offer food to Jagannāthajī that he had cooked with his own hands. This being his desire, one night Jagannāthajī appeared to him in a dream and asked him to go to Māheśa on the bank of the Ganges and there start worship of Him in a temple. Thus Dhruvānanda went to Māheśa, where he saw the three deities—Jagannātha, Balarāma and Subhadrā—floating in the Ganges. He picked up all those deities and installed them in a small cottage, and with great satisfaction he executed the worship of Lord Jagannātha."
The story of the deliverance of this brāhmaṇa is as follows. A brāhmaṇa who was touring all over the country, traveling from one place of pilgrimage to another, reached Navadvīpa and became a guest in the house of Jagannātha Miśra. Jagannātha Miśra gave him all ingredients for cooking, and the brāhmaṇa prepared his food. When the brāhmaṇa was offering the food to Lord Viṣṇu in meditation, child Nimāi came before him and began to eat it, and because of this the brāhmaṇa thought the whole offering had been spoiled. Therefore by the request of Jagannātha Miśra he cooked for a second time, but when he was meditating the child again came before him and began to eat the food, again spoiling the offering. By the request of Jagannātha Miśra the brāhmaṇa cooked for a third time, but for a third time the Lord came before him and began to eat the food, although the child had been locked within a room and everyone was sleeping because it was late at night.
There is a nice description of the faults of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in His childhood in the Caitanya-bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa, Chapter Three, where it is said that as a child the Lord used to steal all kinds of eatables from the houses of neighboring friends. In some houses He would steal milk and drink it, and in others He would steal and eat prepared rice. Sometimes He would break cooking pots. If there were nothing to eat but there were small babies, the Lord would tease the babies and make them cry. Sometimes a neighbor would complain to Śacīmātā, "My child is very small, but your child puts water in his ears and makes him cry."
According to the system of worship, when something is offered to deities outside one's home, it is generally not cooked food but raw rice, bananas and sweetmeats. Out of His causeless mercy, the Lord would snatch the offerings from the girls and eat them, admonishing the girls not to worship the demigods but to worship Him.
Although He is the maintainer of the entire universe, once the Lord sat upon some rejected pots in the pit where the remnants of food were thrown, after the pots had been used for cooking.
Formerly it was the custom of brāhmaṇas to worship Lord Viṣṇu daily at home and cook food in new pots. This system is still going on in Jagannātha Purī. The food would be cooked in earthen pots, all fresh and new, and after cooking, the pots would be thrown away. By the side of the house there was generally a big pit where such pots were thrown. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu sat down on the pots very pleasingly, just to give His mother a lesson.
The absolute knowledge explained by the Lord to His mother is described by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya as follows: “The Lord said, "Mother, that this is pure and that is impure is surely a worldly sentiment with no basis in fact. You have cooked food for Lord Viṣṇu within these pots and offered the food to Him. How then can these pots be untouchable? Everything in relationship with Viṣṇu is to be considered an expansion of Viṣṇu"s energy. Viṣṇu, the Supersoul, is eternal and uncontaminated. How then may these pots be considered pure or impure?’ Hearing this discourse on absolute knowledge, His mother was very much astonished and forced Him to take a bath.”
From the very beginning of His childhood life Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu introduced the system of observing a fast on the Ekādaśī day. In the Bhakti-sandarbha, by Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, there is a quotation from the Skanda Purāṇa admonishing that a person who eats grains on Ekādaśī becomes a murderer of his mother, father, brother and spiritual master, and even if he is elevated to a Vaikuṇṭha planet, he falls down. On Ekādaśī, everything is cooked for Viṣṇu, including regular grains and dhal, but it is enjoined that a Vaiṣṇava should not even take viṣṇu-prasādam on Ekādaśī. It is said that a Vaiṣṇava does not accept anything eatable that is not offered to Lord Viṣṇu, but on Ekādaśī a Vaiṣṇava should not touch even mahā-prasādam offered to Viṣṇu, although such prasādam may be kept for being eaten the next day. It is strictly forbidden for one to accept any kind of grain on Ekādaśī, even if it is offered to Lord Viṣṇu.
Kumbhīpāka, a type of hellish condition, is described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (5.26.13), wherein it is said that a person who cooks living birds and beasts to satisfy his tongue is brought before Yamarāja after death and punished in the Kumbhīpāka hell. There he is put into boiling oil called kumbhī-pāka, from which there is no deliverance. Kumbhīpāka is meant for persons who are unnecessarily envious. Those who are envious of the activities of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu are punished in that hellish condition.
CC Madhya-lila
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu knew very well that His acceptance of sannyāsa was a thunderbolt for His mother. He therefore called for His mother and the devotees from Māyāpur, and by the arrangement of Śrī Advaita Ācārya, He met them for the last time after His acceptance of sannyāsa. His mother was overwhelmed with grief when she saw that He was clean-shaven. There was no longer any beautiful hair on His head. Mother Śacī was pacified by all the devotees, and Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu asked her to cook for Him because He was very hungry, not having taken anything for three days. His mother immediately agreed, and forgetting everything else, she cooked for Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu during all the days she was at the house of Śrī Advaita Prabhu. Then, after a few days, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu requested His mother's permission to go to Jagannātha Purī. At His mother's request, He made Jagannātha Purī His headquarters after His acceptance of sannyāsa. Thus everything was adjusted, and with His mother's permission Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu proceeded toward Jagannātha Purī.
Advaita Prabhu continued, "At My home I have just cooked one palmful of rice. The vegetables are always very simple. There is no luxurious cooking—simply a little liquid vegetable and spinach."
All the eatables were first cooked by the wife of Advaita Ācārya. Then Śrīla Advaita Ācārya personally offered everything to Lord Viṣṇu.
This is the ideal householder's life. The husband and wife live together, and the husband works very hard to secure paraphernalia for worshiping Lord Viṣṇu. The wife at home cooks a variety of foods for Lord Viṣṇu, and the husband offers it to the Deity. After that, ārati is performed, and the prasādam is distributed amongst family members and guests. According to the Vedic principles, there must always be a guest in a householder's house. In my childhood I have actually seen my father receive not less than four guests every day, and in those days my father's income was not very great.
The cooked rice was a stack of very fine grains nicely cooked, and in the middle was yellow clarified butter from the milk of cows. Surrounding the stack of rice were pots made of the skins of banana trees, and in these pots were varieties of vegetables and mung dhal.
Among the cooked vegetables were paṭolas, squash, mānakacu and a salad made with pieces of ginger and various types of spinach.
We request our editors of cook books to add all these nice preparations described by the experienced author Śrīla Kavirāja Gosvāmī.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu approved of all the methods employed in cooking and offering food to Kṛṣṇa. Indeed, He was so pleased that He said, "Frankly, I will personally take the lotus feet of anyone who can offer Kṛṣṇa such nice food and place those lotus feet on My head birth after birth."
From the day Śacīmātā arrived at the house of Advaita Ācārya, she took charge of the cooking, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu dined in the company of all the devotees.
Mother Śacī cooked with great pleasure, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, along with the devotees, accepted the prasādam with great pleasure.
When the villagers brought their stock of rice, dhal and flour, the potters of the village brought all kinds of cooking pots, and in the morning the cooking began.
Ten brāhmaṇas cooked the food grains, and five brāhmaṇas cooked both dry and liquid vegetables.
All the cooked rice was stacked on palāśa leaves, which were on new cloths spread over the ground.
Around the stack of cooked rice were stacks of capatis, and all the vegetables and liquid vegetable preparations were placed in different pots and put around them.
In this kind of ceremony, which is called Annakūṭa, cooked rice is stacked like a small mountain for prasādam distribution.
One very rich kṣatriya of the royal order constructed a temple, someone made cooking utensils, and someone constructed boundary walls.
"Cook one kilo of rice daily and offer it. I shall eat that rice and follow behind you."
While Gopāla followed the young brāhmaṇa, the tinkling sound of His ankle bells could be heard. The brāhmaṇa became very pleased, and he cooked first-class rice for Gopāla to eat.
The Bhaṭṭācārya's wife, whose name was Ṣāṭhīmātā (the mother of Ṣāṭhī), did the cooking. The narrations of these pastimes are very wonderful.
Sometimes preachers in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement have to accept food in a home where the householder is an avaiṣṇava; however, if this food is offered to the Deity, it can be taken. Ordinary food cooked by an avaiṣṇava should not be accepted by a Vaiṣṇava. Even if an avaiṣṇava cooks food without fault, he cannot offer it to Lord Viṣṇu, and it cannot be accepted as mahā-prasādam. According to Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.26):
- patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati
- tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ
"If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, I will accept it."
Kṛṣṇa can accept anything offered by His devotee with devotion. An avaiṣṇava may be a vegetarian and a very clean cook, but because he cannot offer Viṣṇu the food he cooks, it cannot be accepted as mahā-prasādam. It is better that a Vaiṣṇava abandon such food as untouchable.
After bathing in the river Kṛtamālā, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to the brāhmaṇa's house to take lunch, but He saw that the food was unprepared because the brāhmaṇa had not cooked it.
Seeing this, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "My dear sir, please tell Me why you have not cooked. It is already noon."
The brāhmaṇa replied, "My dear Lord, we are living in the forest. For the time being we cannot get all the ingredients for cooking."
"When Lakṣmaṇa brings all the vegetables, fruits and roots from the forest, Sītā will do the necessary cooking."
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was very satisfied to hear about the brāhmaṇa's method of worship. Finally the brāhmaṇa hastily made arrangements for cooking.
Saying this, the brāhmaṇa very happily cooked food, and a first-class dinner was offered to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
He also remembered how Śrī Jagannātha Miśra's wife, Śacīmātā, was expert in cooking. He recalled that she was very affectionate toward the sannyāsīs and fed them exactly like her own sons.
Those who are not pious cannot understand the value of mahā-prasādam or the holy name of the Lord. Both prasādam and the Lord's name are on the Brahman platform, or spiritual platform. One should never consider prasādam to be like ordinary hotel cooking. Nor should one touch any kind of food not offered to the Deity. Every Vaiṣṇava strictly follows this principle and does not accept any food that is not prasādam. One should take prasādam with great faith and should chant the holy name of the Lord and worship the Deity in the temple, always remembering that the Deity, mahā-prasādam and the holy name do not belong to the mundane platform. By worshiping the Deity, eating prasādam and chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, one can always remain on the spiritual platform (brahma-bhūyāya kalpate (BG 14.26)).
All kinds of devotees of Lord Jagannātha—from neophytes to the most advanced—offered their best cooked food to the Lord.
All the visitors who had come from different countries to Jagannātha Purī, as well as the local devotees, offered their personally cooked food to the Lord.
"One day My mother, Śacī, offered food to Śālagrāma Viṣṇu. She offered rice cooked from śāli paddies, various kinds of vegetables, spinach, curry made of banana flowers, fried paṭola with nimba leaves, pieces of ginger with lemon, and also yogurt, milk, sugar candy and many other foods."
"Now whenever she prepares some good cooked food and wants to feed it to Me, she cries in great anxiety."
"He prepares cakes, sweet rice, condensed milk and everything else with great attention, and the cooking conditions are purified so that the food is first class and delicious."
A sannyāsī should not cook food for himself or accept an invitation to eat at a devotee's house continuously for many days. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was very kind and affectionate toward His devotees, yet He would not accept a long invitation at Sārvabhauma's house. Out of affection, He accepted only five days in the month. The ten sannyāsīs living with the Lord were (1) Paramānanda Purī, (2) Svarūpa Dāmodara, (3) Brahmānanda Purī, (4) Brahmānanda Bhāratī, (5) Viṣṇu Purī, (6) Keśava Purī, (7) Kṛṣṇānanda Purī, (8) Nṛsiṁha Tīrtha, (9) Sukhānanda Purī and (10) Satyānanda Bhāratī.
After returning to his home, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya gave orders to his wife, and his wife, Ṣāṭhīra Mātā, began cooking with great pleasure.
Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya personally began to help Ṣāṭhīra Mātā cook. She was very experienced, and she knew how to cook nicely.
First, three mānas of cooked rice—almost six pounds—was poured onto a big banana leaf.
This is the beginning of a description of the food prepared for Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. This description is given by Kavirāja Gosvāmī, who, it is assumed, was an expert cook who knew both how to prepare and how to serve food.
There were a number of pots made of the bark of banana trees and the leaves of the keyā plant. These pots were filled with various cooked vegetables and placed on all sides of the leaf.
"Even a hundred men cooking on a hundred stoves could not possibly finish all these preparations within so short a time."
"My wife and I did not especially exert ourselves in the cooking. He by whose power the food has been prepared knows everything."
The Lord's favorite vegetables were cooked by Mālinīdevī, the wife of Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura. She devotedly considered herself a maidservant of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, but in affection she was just like a mother.
His father even had five watchmen guard him day and night. Four personal servants were employed to look after his comfort, and two brāhmaṇas were employed to cook for him.
Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya and Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī selected a brāhmaṇa named Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya to personally assist Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Early in the morning before sunrise, the Lord started for the town of Kaṭaka. North of Kaṭaka, He penetrated a dense forest and came upon many tigers and elephants, whom He engaged in chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. Whenever the Lord had a chance to visit a village, Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya would beg alms and acquire some rice and vegetables. If there were no village, Balabhadra would cook whatever rice remained and collect some spinach from the forest for the Lord to eat. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was very pleased with the behavior of Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya.
"Our Lord, please take one very nice brāhmaṇa with You. He will collect alms for You, cook for You, give You prasādam and carry Your waterpot while traveling."
"The other brāhmaṇa can carry Your cloth and waterpot, and Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya will collect alms and cook for You."
Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya used to cook all kinds of vegetables gathered from the forest, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was very pleased to accept these preparations.
Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya used to keep a stock of food grain that would last from two to four days. Where there were no people, he would cook the grain and prepare vegetables, spinach, roots and fruits collected from the forest.
Tapana Miśra invited Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to take lunch at his home, and he had Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya cook.
He asked Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya to cook Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's lunch. At that time the Lord, smiling, spoke as follows.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "Mādhavendra Purī has already taken lunch at your place. Therefore you may cook and give Me the food. That is My instruction."
This is the original business of the suvarṇa-vaṇik or Āgarwālā community. Historically, the Āgarwālās came from the up-country named Ayodha, and the suvarṇa-vaṇik community also came from Ayodha. It therefore appears that the suvarṇa-vaṇiks and the Āgarwālās belong to the same community. The Sanoḍiyā brāhmaṇas were the guides of the Kālawāras and Sānwāḍas. They are therefore considered to be lower-class brāhmaṇas, and a sannyāsī is not allowed to take alms or food from them. However, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted lunch cooked by a Sanoḍiyā brāhmaṇa simply because he belonged to Mādhavendra Purī’s community. Śrīla Mādhavendra Purī was the spiritual master of Īśvara Purī, who was the spiritual master of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Thus a spiritual relationship is established on the spiritual platform, without consideration of material inferiority or superiority.
Although the brāhmaṇa belonged to the Sanoḍiyā community, Śrīla Mādhavendra Purī had seen that he behaved like a Vaiṣṇava and had therefore accepted him as his disciple. The food he had cooked had also been accepted by Mādhavendra Purī.
At Brahma-kuṇḍa, the Bhaṭṭācārya cooked food, and the Lord, after taking His bath at Brahma-kuṇḍa, accepted His lunch.
In the morning they would come to Akrūra-tīrtha and cook food. After offering it to the śālagrāma-śilā, they offered it to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
Vallabhācārya worshiped the Lord with great pomp, offering scents, incense, flowers and lamps, and with great respect he induced Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya (the Lord's cook) to cook.
The landlord said, "I shall get you across that hilly tract at night with my own men. Now just cook for yourself and take your lunch."
Saying this, the landlord offered Sanātana grain to cook. Sanātana then went to the riverside and took his bath.
Because Sanātana had been fasting for two days, he cooked the food and ate it. However, having formerly been a minister of the Nawab, he began to contemplate the situation.
The word mādhukarī comes from the word madhukara, which refers to bees collecting pollen from flower to flower. A mādhukarī is a saintly person or a mendicant who does not accept a full meal at one house but begs from door to door, taking a little food from each householder's place. In this way he does not overeat or give householders unnecessary trouble. A person in the renounced order may beg but not cook. His begging should not be a burden for the householders. The mādhukarī process is strictly to be followed by a bābājī, that is, one who has attained the paramahaṁsa stage. This practice is still current in Vṛndāvana, and there are many places where alms are offered. Unfortunately, there are many beggars who have come to Vṛndāvana to accept alms but not follow the principles of Sanātana Gosvāmī. People try to imitate him and lead an idle life by practicing mādhukarī. It is almost impossible to strictly follow Sanātana Gosvāmī or Rūpa Gosvāmī. It is better to accept food offered to Kṛṣṇa in the temple than to try to imitate Sanātana Gosvāmī and Rūpa Gosvāmī.
Subuddhi Rāya used to spend his savings to supply yogurt to Bengali Vaiṣṇavas who came to Mathurā. He also gave them cooked rice and oil massages. When he saw a poverty-stricken Vaiṣṇava, he would use his money to feed him.
There is a special reference for the maintenance of Bengali Vaiṣṇavas. A Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava is a Bengali Vaiṣṇava. Most of the devotees of Lord Caitanya at that time were Gauḍīyas and Oriyās, inhabitants of Bengal and Orissa. There are still many hundreds of thousands of His followers in Bengal and Orissa. Bengalis are habituated to eating cooked rice as their staple food. When they went to Mathurā in the north, they found that the people generally ate capatis or roṭis made of wheat. The Bengalis could not digest this food because they were used to cooked rice. Therefore as soon as Subuddhi Rāya saw a Bengali Vaiṣṇava arriving in Mathurā, he would try to supply him with cooked rice. Bengalis are also accustomed to taking a massage with mustard oil. In any case, Subuddhi Rāya wanted to serve the Vaiṣṇavas according to their needs. Therefore he would supply yogurt to ease the digestion of food eaten in Mathurā, particularly the capatis and roṭis made with wheat.
CC Antya-lila
One day while Śivānanda was detained by a tollman, his servant forgot to give the dog its cooked rice.
"Tomorrow at noon He will come to your home. Therefore please bring all kinds of cooking ingredients. I shall personally cook and offer Him food."
"Bring all the ingredients very soon, for I want to begin cooking immediately. Please do what I say."
Nṛsiṁhānanda Brahmacārī said to Śivānanda, "Please bring whatever cooking ingredients I want." Thus Śivānanda Sena immediately brought whatever he asked for.
Beginning early in the morning, Nṛsiṁhānanda Brahmacārī cooked many varieties of food, including vegetables, cakes, sweet rice and other preparations.
After he finished cooking, he brought separate dishes for Jagannātha and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
When Śivānanda Sena was thus perplexed, Nṛsiṁhānanda Brahmacārī said to him, "Bring more food. Let me cook again for Lord Nṛsiṁha-deva."
Then Śivānanda Sena again brought the ingredients with which to cook, and Pradyumna Brahmacārī again cooked and offered the food to Nṛsiṁha-deva.
In great affection, Bhagavān Ācārya cooked varieties of vegetables and other preparations dear to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He also obtained remnants of food from Lord Jagannātha and digestive aids such as ground ginger and also lime with salt.
"'During the last Māgha-saṅkrānti festival, you cooked varieties of vegetables, condensed milk, cakes and sweet rice for Me.'"
"'Then you went to see the cooking pots and found that every pot was filled with food. Therefore you again offered the food, after cleansing the place for the offering.'"
The Muslim minister made his residence in the Durgā-maṇḍapa of Rāmacandra Khān. He killed a cow and cooked the meat at that very place.
In that very room he cooked the flesh of a cow for three consecutive days. Then the next day he left, accompanied by his followers.
He brought many kinds of food cooked in ghee and offered to the Lord. This prasādam he first placed before Lord Nityānanda and then distributed among the devotees.
There were varieties of cakes, sweet rice and fine cooked rice that surpassed the taste of nectar. There were also varieties of vegetables.
When Rāghava Paṇḍita offered the food to the Deity after cooking, he would make a separate offering for Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
He brought so many presentations that no one could know them perfectly. Indeed, it was a fact that the supreme mother, Rādhārāṇī, personally cooked in the house of Rāghava Paṇḍita.
Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī received from Durvāsā Muni the benediction that whatever She cooked would be sweeter than nectar. That is the special feature of Her cooking.
Sometimes he chewed fried grains, sometimes he cooked, and sometimes he drank milk. In this way he kept his life and soul together with whatever was available wherever he went.
The next year, when Śivānanda Sena was going to Jagannātha Purī as usual, the servants and the brāhmaṇa, who was a cook, went with him.
When a brāhmaṇa at whose home an invitation could be accepted invited Him, the brāhmaṇa would purchase part of the prasādam and cook the rest at home.
The following summary of Chapter Ten is given by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya. Before the Ratha-yātrā ceremony, all the devotees from Bengal started for Jagannātha Purī as usual. Rāghava Paṇḍita brought with him various kinds of food for Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The food had been cooked by his sister, Damayantī, who then packed it in bags (jhāli). Thus the stock of food was generally known as rāghavera jhāli, "the bags of Rāghava." Makaradhvaja Kara, an inhabitant of Pānihāṭi who accompanied Rāghava Paṇḍita, was the secretary in charge of accounting for the rāghavera jhāli.
Damayantī powdered coriander and anise seeds, cooked them with sugar and made them into sweetmeats in the shape of small balls.
She made some of the flat rice into puffed rice, fried it in ghee, cooked it in sugar juice, mixed in some camphor and rolled it into balls.
She powdered fried grains of fine rice, moistened the powder with ghee and cooked it in a solution of sugar. Then she added camphor, black pepper, cloves, cardamom and other spices and rolled the mixture into balls that were very palatable and aromatic.
She took parched rice from fine paddy, fried it in ghee, cooked it in a sugar solution, mixed in some camphor and thus made a preparation called ukhḍā or muḍki.
Another variety of sweet was made with fused peas that were powdered, fried in ghee and then cooked in sugar juice. Camphor was added, and then the mixture was rolled into balls.
From time to time, Advaita Ācārya and others would invite Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu for home-cooked rice and varieties of vegetables.
They also offered phula-baḍī, liquid mung dhal and many vegetables, all cooked according to the Lord's taste.
The inhabitants of Kulīna-grāma, such as Satyarāja Khān and Rāmānanda Vasu, were not brāhmaṇas by caste, nor were the inhabitants of Khaṇḍa, such as Mukunda dāsa, Narahari dāsa and Raghunandana. Therefore they would purchase prasādam from the market where the remnants of Lord Jagannātha's food was sold and then extend invitations to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, whereas Ācāryaratna, Ācāryanidhi and others who were brāhmaṇas by caste would cook at home when they invited the Lord. Caitanya Mahāprabhu observed the etiquette then current in society by accepting only prasādam cooked by members of the brāhmaṇa caste, but on principle He accepted invitations from His devotees, regardless of whether they were brāhmaṇas by caste.
Gopīnātha Ācārya, Jagadānanda, Kāśīśvara, Bhagavān, Rāmabhadra Ācārya, Śaṅkara and Vakreśvara, who were all brāhmaṇas, extended invitations to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and offered Him food cooked at home, whereas other devotees would pay two paṇas of small conchshells to purchase Jagannātha's prasādam and then invite the Lord.
That year a devotee named Parameśvara dāsa Modaka also went with his family to see Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu at Jagannātha Purī. The devotees often invited Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to eat with them. When the Lord bade them all farewell, He talked very pleasingly with them. The year before, Jagadānanda Paṇḍita had been sent to Śacīmātā with prasādam and cloth. This year he returned to Purī with a big pot of floral-scented sandalwood oil to massage the Lord's head. The Lord, however, would not accept the oil, and because of His refusal, Jagadānanda Paṇḍita broke the pot in front of Him and began to fast. The Lord tried to pacify him and asked Jagadānanda Paṇḍita to cook for Him. Jagadānanda Paṇḍita became so pleased when Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted his cooking that he broke his fast.
From Bengal the devotees had brought varieties of Bengali food that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu liked. They also cooked various grains and vegetables in their homes and offered them to the Lord.
Śacīmātā said, "I wish Nimāi would eat all the nice vegetables I cook. That is my desire."
"I want you personally to cook My lunch today. I am going now to see the Lord in the temple. I shall return at noon."
After Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said this and left, Jagadānanda Paṇḍita got up from his bed, bathed and began to cook varieties of vegetables.
He had cooked fine rice, mixed it with ghee and piled it high on a banana leaf. There were also varieties of vegetables, placed all around in pots made of banana tree bark.
"Even when you cook in an angry mood," He said, "the food is very delicious. This shows how pleased Kṛṣṇa is with you."
"Because He will personally eat the food, Kṛṣṇa makes you cook so nicely."
Jagadānanda Paṇḍita replied, "He who will eat has cooked this. As far as I am concerned, I simply collect the ingredients."
"Rāmāi Paṇḍita and Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa did the cooking, and I want to give them some rice and vegetables."
They stayed in Sanātana Gosvāmī’s cave, but Jagadānanda Paṇḍita would go to a nearby temple and cook for himself.
One day Jagadānanda Paṇḍita, having invited Sanātana to the nearby temple for lunch, finished his routine duties and began to cook.
Hearing this, Jagadānanda Paṇḍita immediately became very angry and took a cooking pot in his hand, intending to beat Sanātana Gosvāmī.
Sanātana Gosvāmī, however, knew Jagadānanda Paṇḍita very well and was consequently somewhat ashamed. Jagadānanda therefore left the cooking pot on the stove and spoke as follows.
When Jagadānanda Paṇḍita finished cooking, he offered the food to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Then he and Sanātana Gosvāmī sat down and ate the prasādam.
He would periodically cook rice with various vegetables and invite Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to his home.
Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa was an expert cook. Whatever he prepared tasted just like nectar.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Teachings of Lord Caitanya
The following miraculous act has been related. It is said that a brāhmaṇa on pilgrimage became a guest in His house, cooked food and read grace with meditation upon Kṛṣṇa. In the meantime the lad came and ate up the cooked rice. The brāhmaṇa, astonished at the lad's act, cooked again at the request of Jagannātha Miśra. The lad again ate up the cooked rice while the brāhmaṇa was offering it to Kṛṣṇa with meditation. The brāhmaṇa was persuaded to cook for a third time. This time all the inmates of the house had fallen asleep, and the lad showed himself as Kṛṣṇa to the traveler and blessed Him. The brāhmaṇa was then lost in ecstasy at the appearance of the object of his worship.
Another miraculous act that has been described is the lad's demanding and getting from Hiraṇya and Jagadīśa all the offerings they had collected for worshiping Kṛṣṇa on the day of Ekādaśī. When only four years of age, He sat on rejected cooking pots, which were considered unholy by His mother. He explained to His mother that there was no question of holiness and unholiness as regards earthen pots thrown away after the cooking was over. These anecdotes relate to His tender age up to the fifth year.
Nectar of Devotion
The purport of this statement by Indra is that beginning from Brahmā down to the insignificant ant, no living entities are meant for enjoying the material opulences. They are simply meant for offering everything to the supreme proprietor, the Personality of Godhead. By doing so, they automatically enjoy the benefit. The example can be cited again of the different parts of the body collecting foodstuffs and cooking them so that ultimately a meal may be offered to the stomach. After it has gone to the stomach, all the parts of the body equally enjoy the benefit of the meal. So, similarly, everyone's duty is to satisfy the Supreme Lord, and then automatically everyone will become satisfied.
It is not that one should try to satisfy the Supreme Lord with a little water and a leaf, and for himself spend all his money in sense gratification.) (25) One should not eat anything which is not offered first to Kṛṣṇa. (26) One should not fail to offer fresh fruit and grains to Kṛṣṇa, according to the season. (27) After food has been cooked, no one should be offered any foodstuff unless it is first offered to the Deity. (28) One should not sit with his back toward the Deity. (29) One should not offer obeisances silently to the spiritual master, or in other words, one should recite aloud the prayers to the spiritual master while offering obeisances. (30) One should not fail to offer some praise in the presence of the spiritual master. (31) One should not praise himself before the spiritual master. (32) One should not deride the demigods before the Deity.
Other rules are that one should not offer foodstuff which is cooked by a non-Vaiṣṇava, one should not worship the Deity before a nondevotee, and one should not engage himself in the worship of the Lord while seeing a nondevotee. One should begin the worship of the demigod Gaṇapati, who drives away all impediments in the execution of devotional service. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is stated that Gaṇapati worships the lotus feet of Lord Nṛsiṁha-deva and in that way has become auspicious for the devotees in clearing out all impediments. Therefore, all devotees should worship Gaṇapati. The Deities should not be bathed in water which has been touched by the nails or fingers. When a devotee is perspiring, he should not engage himself in worshiping the Deity. Similarly, there are many other prohibitions. For example, one should not cross or step over the flowers offered to the Deities, nor should one take a vow in the name of God. These are all different kinds of offenses in the matter of executing devotional service, and one should be careful to avoid them.
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
This woman had formerly been the wife of Cupid, called Rati. When the fish was presented to the demon Śambara, it was taken charge of by his cook, who was to make it into a palatable fish preparation. Demons and Rākṣasas are accustomed to eat meat, fish and similar nonvegetarian foods. Demons like Rāvaṇa, Kaṁsa and Hiraṇyakaśipu, although born of brāhmaṇa and kṣatriya fathers, used to take meat and fish without discrimination. This practice is still prevalent in India, and those who eat meat and fish are generally called demons and Rākṣasas.
When the cook was cutting the fish, he found within its stomach a nice baby, which he immediately presented to the charge of Māyāvatī, who was an assistant in the kitchen affairs. This woman was surprised to see how such a nice baby could remain within the belly of a fish, and the situation perplexed her. The great sage Nārada then appeared and explained to her about the birth of Pradyumna and how the baby had been taken away by Śambara and later thrown into the sea. In this way the whole story was disclosed to Māyāvatī. Māyāvatī knew that she had previously been Rati, the wife of Cupid; after her husband was burned to ashes by the wrath of Lord Śiva, she was always expecting him to come back in a material form. This woman was engaged for cooking rice and dāl in the kitchen, but when she got this nice baby and understood that he was Cupid, her own husband, she naturally took charge of him and with great affection began to bathe him regularly. Miraculously, the baby swiftly grew up, and within a very short period he became a beautiful young man. His eyes were just like the petals of lotus flowers, and his arms were long, reaching down to his knees; any woman who happened to see him was captivated by his bodily beauty.
After the eclipse, all the members of the Yadu dynasty again took their baths in the lakes created by Lord Paraśurāma. Then they sumptuously fed the brāhmaṇas with first-class cooked food, all prepared in butter. According to the Vedic system, there are two classes of food. One is called raw food, and the other is called cooked food. "Raw food" does not indicate raw vegetables and raw grains but food boiled in water, whereas cooked food is made in ghee. Capātīs, dāl, rice and ordinary vegetables are called raw foods, as are fruits and salads. But purīs, kachoris, samosās, sweet balls and so on are called cooked foods. All the brāhmaṇas invited on that occasion by the members of the Yadu dynasty were fed sumptuously with cooked food.
After welcoming the Lord and His companions, according to his ability he brought fruits, incense, scented water, scented clay, tulasī leaves, kuśa straw and lotus flowers. They were not costly items and could be secured very easily, but because they were offered with devotional love, Lord Kṛṣṇa and His associates accepted them gladly. The brāhmaṇa's wife cooked simple foods like rice and dāl, and Lord Kṛṣṇa and His followers were very much pleased to accept them because they were offered in devotional love. When Lord Kṛṣṇa and His associates were fed in this way, the brāhmaṇa Śrutadeva was thinking thus: "I have fallen into the deep, dark well of householder life and am the most unfortunate person. How has it become possible that Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His associates, the great sages, whose very presence makes a place as sanctified as a pilgrimage site, have agreed to come to my place?" While the brāhmaṇa was thinking in this way, the guests finished their lunch and sat back very comfortably. At that time, the brāhmaṇa Śrutadeva and his wife, children and other relatives appeared there to render service to the distinguished guests. While touching the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the brāhmaṇa began to speak.
| Page Title: | Cooking (CC and Other Books) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Mayapur, Labangalatika |
| Created: | 09 of Aug, 2011 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=127, OB=8, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 135 |