Bhagavad Gita Ch17 part 06 on 14 November 2021

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

Om Jananim Sharadam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum Pada Padme Tayo Shritva Pranamam Imuhur Muhuhu Om Vasudevasutam Devam Kamsachanuram Ardhanam Devaki Paramanandam Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum Sarvopanishadokavo Dogdha Gopalanandana Partho Vatsa Sudhir Bhokta Dogdham Geetam Ritam Mahat Mukham Karuthi Vachalam Pangum Langhayate Girim Yath Kripathamaham Vande Paramanandamadham The Lord is speaking about how to progress from a lower guna to a higher guna, highest guna and go beyond all gunas. For that He is briefly outlining four steps. First is control of the sense organs represented by aahara or food. And second is worshipping wise beings, gods, divine beings etc. representing higher ideals and more purity of mind including Shraddha. Third step is tapasya, austerity. Without austerity nothing can be achieved. What is austerity? Some things have to be given up and some things have to be obtained. That is the greatest austerity where we slowly can give up what is inauspicious and unprogressive and slowly adopt through pratipaksha bhavana so that we can develop in spiritual life, progress in spiritual life. Finally whatever we get, knowledge, joy, everything has to be shared with other people like our own brothers and sisters so that everyone can come up because everyone is none other than myself through different forms and names. So the first step is aahara. Yesterday we discussed every living creature has certain values. Human beings need higher values. Therefore there is what is called moral value, intellectual value, aesthetic values and finally spiritual values. So all the values can be roughly divided into three categories, physical, moral and spiritual. So with this background let us start. Yesterday we have been discussing about food. Arjuna represents every sincere spiritual aspirant. Listen to me, I am going to outline you right from where you are because everyone of us are at different states of consciousness. So we have to start from where we are but roughly all our needs have been categorized into these four classes. So what are they? Food. Food is sarvasya priyobhavati. Everybody wants food but without food it is impossible even to live in this world. But food means not only physical survival food but that which sustains us so that dharma can be practiced, spiritual progress, evolution can be achieved. So whether a person is tamasic, rajasic or sattvic, everybody has his own chosen dear foods. So last two points we have to remember. If a person is sattvic and he likes certain types of foods, they are called sattvic foods. There is not much ostentation. If he is a rajasic person, he will have very strong type of foods, very hot, very cold, very bitter, very sour, very astringent, very salty, etc. But if he is a tamasic person, the worst type of food is most dear, that which is old, that which is dirty, that which is full of dust, hair, so many other things mixed up with it. Poothi, bad smell is coming from it, decomposition smell is coming. Paryushritham, in every way it is poisonous and yet people like it. This is the first point. By observing what type of foods our mind is pulling us towards, more or less we can guess whether we are sattvic, rajasic or tamasic. Second point is, this observation is very helpful to us, so that by adopting deliberately those physical foods which a very higher category people prefer. For example, tamasika should adopt rajasika food. Rajasika should adopt the sattvika food. And a sattvika person should go beyond all likes and dislikes, that is how he is going to become gunatitha, totally dependent upon the Divine Mother, so that she knows what type of food, in how much quantity, through whom and where that will be supplied. It will be supplied but one must slowly reach that state of complete self-surrender. So the division of food, sacrifice, austerity and gift, that is ahara, yagna, tapasya and dhanam. These are, I am going to tell you, so that you will not have the least bit of doubt. I will make it crystal clear to you. Even the smallest intellect can understand, not to speak of you and many others like you. So that, what is the purpose? So that you can adopt that which is usually conducive to higher attainments. And yesterday we have discussed about what Swami Vivekananda had to say about it. Now, we also have discussed, food plays a very important part in our life. When we look at the modern world, we see that something very very strange, that people are obsessed with food. There are two types of people, those who are satiated, more than satiated, more than filled with any type of food they want, due to the blessings of transportation and communication, telecommunication and transportation. Any food grown anywhere on earth can be obtained, either in its original form or canned form or tinned form or preserved form etc. But, millions of people are starving because they cannot get even ordinary food created by political, selfish, motivated countries, people, military etc. So, food is very very important. And I promised yesterday, I told you three incidents. Draupadi asked Bhishma, where is all your wisdom gone? When people were insulting me, you simply kept mum. And I asked you, I challenged you, but you could not say. For that, this beautiful reply was given by Bhishma himself, I was eating the food supplied by an evil person. So, all my dharmic memories, good memories have become completely covered, not destroyed, but covered up. Second story was also very important. We have seen how food can affect people's minds in so many ways. I quoted a story from the Chandogya Upanishad. The teacher asks the student fast for 15 days. The student was an expert in Vedic wisdom. And after 15 days of starving, the teacher asked him to recite. Nothing comes out because the brain cannot function. The man has not lost the knowledge, but it cannot be ferreted out. The connections to bring out the memory, memory bringing mechanism has failed him because brain is the most important instrument. Then the teacher asked him to resume eating food. And after 15 days, he regained back everything, which shows that knowledge cannot be destroyed, but it can be covered up. I also told the incident. A sage was doing great austerity in a forest. There was a wise bird and it asked, What shall I eat? And the sage understood its language and replied, Eat in moderation and that which is conducive to every type of health, physical, intellectual, aesthetic, moral, food, etc. So these are the three incidents. Then I also narrated how Narendranath, he did not believe at first. Do not take this as a gospel truth that the Rishi who was born as Narendranath was really ignorant and he could not remember anything. This is for our benefit that he had to go through every experience of most major spiritual minds from atheism to skepticism, agnosticism to slight belief and deep belief and complete belief, etc. and following any religion. It doesn't matter. All religions are like different paths leading to that central point which is God. So Sri Ramakrishna's body was extremely sensitive to any type of evil and at first Swami Vivekananda, future Vivekananda could not believe it, but repeatedly experiencing it, finding out the real cause, Sri Ramakrishna did not know anything about these people. Only Narendranath knew about it upon inquiry. Then he understood that Sri Ramakrishna's body itself has become so pure that impure food is rejected automatically like an extremely sensitive part of the body. Even if you feather touch it, it will immediately feel the touch and either accept it or reject it. So that is one incident. I want to narrate how significant is the food. This is all because of, yesterday we discussed, Swami Vivekananda bodily lifting Ramanuja's teachings which he lifted from earlier Acharyas. As I said that every food has got three defects by its very nature like onion, garlic, etc. Food is by its very nature full of defects, impurities. Coffee, tea, alcohol, anything that remains for a long time becomes alcohol as you know. You keep an apple or a grape for a few days and afterwards you can actually smell alcoholic smell. So this is the very nature. This is called Jati. Then Nimitta Dosha. Accidentally dust, dirt, hair and other things fall. One has to be very careful about it. But these are very physical things. The most important thing is Ashraya Dosha by whom, into whose contact this food comes and if those people happen to be pure, we also become pure. Every devotee offers food to God so that God, as if God has partaken of it, He has purified and that is called Prasada and that purifies us also. That is why Prasada is highly uplifting, purifying, enlightening. It increases our Shraddha. Ramakrishna used to say, every devotee must eat at least a bit of Jagannath Mahaprasada and that will purify and remove all bad, evil, unspiritual Samskaras and help us very much. So, Holy Mother was invited by a devotee, probably her own initiated devotee. They happened to be very rich persons and they took Holy Mother by car, even in those days, to their house and elaborate arrangements were made. Holy Mother herself performed the worship. She offered at the end of the worship, you know, Naivedya. But to her great surprise, then shock, then grief, she used to see Sri Ramakrishna actually opening the eyes, rays of light coming, touching every bit of the food, how purifying and uplifting. But that day she did not see anything. Then she prayed, Oh Lord, I have come here and they will force me to eat something. If I do not eat, then it is very bad for the devotees and at the same time, I also feel bad. You must accept something. And after lot of threatening, pestering, cajoling, a ray of light came, touched the payasa and went back. And that day, in spite of repeated requests, Holy Mother could only take that payasa and nothing else. But there was another incident. Once a disciple of Holy Mother requested her, give me some spiritual experience. And she granted it. Immediately his mind rose to very great height. But Holy Mother cautioned him, do not take food. If you have to take food, if it is cooked by your own mother, then accept it. Otherwise take food only from here in Jairambati. Do not accept. So one day this devotee happened to go to a neighbouring village for some shopping, for some work. And it was noon and he did not eat. And a devotee well-known to everybody saw him, invited him and this devotee thought, after all Mother did not mean we should not go to a devotee's house. He went, took food, promptly his spiritual experience totally vanished. The moment food touched his tongue, his spiritual experience has come to an end. Thereafter to his infinite regret, he must have realised this person is a devotee, but at the same time he is not a pure devotee. Lot of impurities are there. So that is incident. Swami Vivekananda himself, after observing Sri Ramakrishna, he came to believe in everything that Sri Ramakrishna told him, even though many things probably he did not understand at that time. So what happened when he was in USA, probably in Detroit or some place, I do not remember, one of his admirers had invited him, friends, who was a rich person, to a very famous restaurant and ordered the costliest food. Probably even at that time it was costing $20, which was a great amount. And Swamiji innocently accepted it, went there. The food was served. One look, the chef himself who cooked the food has come. Immediately Swamiji rejected that food and said, I cannot touch this food. In spite of the host's repeated requests, he did not touch anything at all. Probably he was angry, frustrated, but later on Swamiji explained that I took one look at the cook and so much of impurity, as if he was the embodiment of impurity. And so this is the most important thing. Don't eat food, especially in restaurants and other places, because what they serve is what is called mostly Rajasika food, first of all. Secondly, the people are terribly impure, the cooks are terribly impure, the servers are terribly impure and the hotel food is unspiritual, to put it in slight words. Unless it is an exceptional case, you have no other way. What to do? Then you go, order something simply and offer it to God, do Brahma Arpanam and accept it as the Prasada of the Lord. Once it so happened to me, I was in Torino and they do not know what is called vegetarian food. Even the rice they were preparing was mixed with fat of the cows. Evil smelling. I could not do, I touched it and once I tasted it, a sort of repugnance had come to me. But I had to stay there for two and a half days. What to do? Excellent idea came that marvellous yogurt, bananas and first class cheese and immediately I took only. Morning I used to have toast, this cheese and some fruits. Noon, banana and yogurt. Night also, banana and yogurt. I did not feel any difficulty so long as I stayed there. So if we have to do, do your best. Supposing you have no option at all, then you just offer it mentally, pray to the Lord, but deliberately. Nowadays people, it has become a fashion to order food. Previously they used to go to the restaurants. Now the restaurants come, there are Zomato and other food suppliers are there, not knowing how much harm these things can do to people. That's why I am taking time to expound these things. Those who wish to become devotees have to be extremely careful. Now Bhagawan is telling in the eighth shloka, what is sattvika food? Two points earlier I mentioned. Sattvika people like certain types of foods and if others, even if they do not like that kind of food, but make themselves habituated to take that kind of food, slowly their minds will become purified. They will also become sattvika people. It will take time, but these two points we have to remember always. So what are the characteristics of sattvika food? Bhagawan here expounds ten characteristics. Foods, sattvika priyaha, very much loved by sattvika people, containing these two fulfilling at least most of the characteristics, ten characteristics. What are they? Foods that promote longevity, vitality, strength, health, pleasure, appetite and food that is succulent, originous, substantial and agreeable, is favored by people endowed with sattva. So by adopting this kind of food, slowly a person can become sattvika. But remember, food doesn't mean only that which is taken through the mouth, that which is taken through all these five senses are also food. That is why shama and dhamma. Dhamma means control. Control means what we see. We need not see, we need not hear things which we don't need. Second, if we are forced also, then we have to convert them. That prayer should emanate from the bottom of our hearts to the Divine Lord and things will become very favorable. So what are these ten characteristics? That which first of all, ayuhu. That ayu means longevity. What does it mean? Can we increase longevity by taking certain types of foods? No. The categorical answer is nobody's longevity can be shortened or prolonged. It is always fixed, already fixed. By whom? By ourselves. When? Through the results of our previous janmas activities. So what does it mean? Ayuhu. Ayuhu means so long as the allotted lifetime is there for us, may we remain healthy, strong, etc. and these foods will prevent us from developing unwanted, undeserved kind of diseases. That is what ayuhu really means. So a person who eats these things is full of energy, bubbling with joy so that he can use the life for a higher purpose. So foods that promote longevity and then sattva, that means vitality, prana shakti will grow. But even more than that, sattva means sattva guna will grow. Antah karana, our minds, our hearts will become purer and purer. Our shraddha will grow. Our bhakti will grow. Our viveka vairagya will grow. Our shamadama will grow. Our longing for God also will grow. As I mentioned just now, if anybody takes the prasada of Jagannatha as commanded by Sri Ramakrishna, then he is sure to increase in all these spiritual qualities. That is called sattva. And then bala. Bala means strength. Why strength is necessary? Because there are people, they eat the right kind of foods, vegetarian food perhaps, in smaller quantities, digestible quantities. They rarely fall sick, but they are more dead than alive. There is no strength. They are so like this that if you just blow them with a strong wind, immediately they will be floating. In fact, the modern culture seems to promote these things, calling Miss Universe, Miss Universe, etc., etc., both men and women, who are lean and thin and hardly any strength, they walk in that swaying way because they can never walk straight away. They don't have that strength, except in stubborn shape and thinking they are very beautiful and thinking that they are most valuable people, celebrities, increasing their egotism, etc. But that which increases our strength so that without strength, physical especially, it is impossible to progress in any field of life. That's why Swami Vivekananda's advice is that muscles of iron and nerves of steel, gigantic wills, which nothing can break down. That's why he is only repeating these things. Aarogya, foods, is the fourth quality. Foods that minimize what is called propensity for acquiring diseases. That is, that kind of foods are very very welcome foods. Aarogya, Sukha, and they must increase our pleasure. There is a lot of connections between our pleasure and our sense organs and the type of food that we give. There are higher types of foods. For example, higher music, higher art, etc., which will give us higher joy, much higher than anybody can imagine. So Sukha, Preethi, the whole heart becomes as if cooled down. It acquires real meaning. It will be feeling, my life is a fulfilled life. I am not living in vain. There will be no regret. That is called Preethi. And any type of food that increases Vivarthana, all these six qualities, they are the Sattvika. Sattvika people love them and these types of foods increase also the Sattva guna within us. So what are the six? Ayohu. So long as we are alive, we will be free from diseases, etc. Sattva, that which purifies the Antahkarana, Chitta Shuddhi, and Bala, strength, third strength. Fourth, Aarogya, good health. Fifth is Sukha, that which gives us tremendous pleasure even from the ordinary things. Preethi, that means the whole heart becomes satiated with inexplicable peace. Six qualities. But the Lord has not done away. He says Rasyaha, there should be full of juices, not dry and other things. Absolutely like, you know, a first class mango or a first class apple, a first class pear, a first class plum, and take any of these fruits, full of rasa, as soon as you take one bite and the whole mouth is filled with that indescribable rasa. And Snigdha. Snigdha means very pleasing even to looks. Nowadays people in restaurants especially, they wanted to arrange it in such artistic manner without having any of these qualities. That is not Snigdha. Snigdha means even by just look, they make our minds very calm and quiet. And that food which makes us very excited and that is called Rajasikha food. And that food which makes us feel like let me finish quickly and go to bed, that is called Tamasikha food. Sthiraha. Full of substance. There is no room there for what is called just appearance. It is full of vitamins, full of proteins, full of carbohydrates, full of everything. Sthiraha. And Hridyaha. Hridyaha means the heart feels highly pleased, attains a kind of peace of mind just by looking at them. So four things, four qualities just without even eating, they produce this kind of effect upon the body and mind. But after consuming, what prolongs our health, our strength, our pleasure and makes our mind very very contented and it removes many diseases. And all these kinds of foods, ten characteristics are there. So what are they? Longevity, vitality, strength, health, pleasure, appetite and foods that are succulent. Oliginess. Oliginess means full of what is called oil. It is a natural quality. Not that you are advised to have plenty of fat, pig fat, beef fat or any type of fat. It means they naturally contain these things which will be very helpful in maintaining our life. Then substantial. They are full of what you call strength giving ingredients and vitamins etc. Agreeable. And they will not create any adverse reaction within our mind. Then these kinds of foods are presented to people and people, sattvika people, simply they are attracted like a small iron particle to a magnet. That is their natural condition. That is what we have to understand. So we have to try slowly. If it is a tamasika person, don't eat this kind of thing. It will make you even more tamasika. But take the Rajasika food. What is the Rajasika food? Extremes. So what type of foods are liked and what types of foods develop Prajoguna? It is described now. That is six qualities are there. First of all, food that is excessively bitter, excessively sour, excessively salty. We have to add excessive. Excessively hot. Very hot. Very acrid. Very dry. And after eating, you want to just go on drinking and drinking and drinking and drinking and drinking. Water is liked by people and out with Rajas. What is the result of it? This kind of foods, what do they give? Instead of giving pleasure and instead of pleasing, instead of helping a person purify the heart, instead of taking him, develop discrimination, dispassion, etc., they just make a person more worldly. So what do they bring? Pain, grief and disease. So three results. Earlier, four results are there. Six results are there. Here, three results are there. What type of food? Rajasika food. So let's very briefly let us discuss and we seem to love most people because we don't fall under Tamoguna category or Satvaguna category. We want to enjoy the world and this is what seems to be. Kattu, that is excessively bitter or astringent. Amla, like Amlaki, etc. or Karela, bitter gourd, etc. Some people love bitter gourd. In fact, if it is prepared in a particular way, it is very, very tasty. And then excessively sour. You know, generally in South India, what people love is excessively sour things. Whether it is Sambar or Rasam or any type of curry or even buttermilk, it should become sour. Then only they feel that they have eaten the right type of food. So whether it is excessively bitter, excessively sour. And there are some people, I am horrified sometimes I get that taste, excessively salty, very salty. I don't know how they manage to eat it. But some people, Rajasic people love it. And excessively hot. Very hot. Chillies. There are certain chillies, I think they are grown somewhere in America or somewhere. It is very small. But they said it is the most burning chilli in the whole world and they make sauce out of it, chilli sauce. And there are people who just love them and if one day they miss it, it will be terrible. Now here is something very important for us to understand. Once Swami Vivekananda, he was living with some hostesses and they always keep a small bottle, very small bottle of hot sauce, chilli sauce. And first day Swami came and stayed with them. Next morning breakfast was there and this chilli sauce, small bottle he had seen, he poured the whole thing there. And then these three sisters, they became horrified. Swami, that means if you eat so much, you are going to vaporize yourself. But Swami laughed and said, this is nothing. This is my normal routine. This is not enough. And happily he consumed the whole bottle. Thereafter they made sure that a huge bottle of sauce is always by the side of Swami Vivekananda. Now the question comes, many people raised this objection that Swami Vivekananda was indulging in this kind of Rajasic food in the West. Why was he doing? The simplest answer is, the natural tendency of his mind was always to merge in Samadhi. Slightest occasion, his mind will merge in Samadhi. In fact, it was described the earlier days, earliest days at America, he used to forget the whole world. Merged in that state of Samadhi. So many times he had to pay excessive money because the tram was going round and round and every time the collector comes and collects the money but Swami was not aware where he has to get down or even perhaps where he had got in. Thereafter, the devotees understood his natural state and made sure that someone always will be with him and looking after him like a child. Now, our question is, was Swami a Rajasic person or was Swami a Tamasic person wanting to become a Rajasic person? No, the answers are completely wrong. The answer is, he was trying for our sake because of his love for us. He wants to tell us the highest truths, preach highest truths, show us the highest pathway. So, if his mind remains in that Satvika state, more likely that mission will be defeated. Through these means, he was forcefully trying to make his mind come down. That was what Sri Ramakrishna was doing. That was what he also advised Holy Mother after his passing away. Holy Mother felt, I have no reason why I should go on living. Suddenly Sri Ramakrishna appeared and he knew that she has to live there for many many years and she showed a small baby and said, hold on to this baby, girl baby, baby girl and that will be a prop of your life, to keep, to weigh down your mind so that you will never think of giving up the body. And that baby girl turned out to be Radhu later on. She was an extraordinary personality. She was born with a divine mission of keeping the Holy Mother's mind down for people like us. Many people, they curse Radhu, though not openly, how much trouble she gave. It is all because of the trouble she gave to Holy Mother that we had Holy Mother for so many years. Only when the time came, she did not give up the body because of disgust, because that was the allotted period. She came with a return ticket and when the time came, she gave up. She just cut off all the attachments with one stroke. I have withdrawn my mind, etc. So, please keep in mind, Swami Vivekananda was eating Rajasika food because he has to do Rajasika activities. Otherwise, he said my nature is scholastic. I want to go to Himalayas. It will be merged in meditation and Samadhi and never look at this wicked world, so that is the reason. So, these types of six characteristics, very bitter, very sour, very salty, very hot like hot chillies, etc., or anything that is chillies or even pickles, etc., very acrid, full of acid, etc., they just burn and very dry, absolutely dry, but burning. And these types of foods having these characteristics, liked by people, end out with rages. What is the result? It causes pain, grief, and disease, which is a wonderful thing because man never turns to higher life. Just happily jumping with joy from a lower step to a higher step. It always happens. Jumping, going down with joy from a higher step to a lower step always takes place, but always with suffering only. It is the suffering which awakens people and brings them up. So, these types of foods, this knowledge, again I said, for Tamasika people, this is the ideal food. For Sattvika people, with a mission in life, that is also ideal food. But for those who are still in the process of moving up in the scale of spiritual evolution, these kinds of foods are very helpful. Otherwise, what happens? You sit for meditation, sit for japa, sit for hearing a talk, sit for reading a deep book, you are more likely to go to sleep than anything else. So, that's why, funnily, you know, a little bit of fun. I always advise, just before hearing my talk, have 2-3 very hot pickles. And for the entire of my talk, you will never go to sleep. Even if you want to go, that's not possible. So, dukkha, shoka, amaya. Dukkha means an unbearable suffering. Shoka means so much of grief, regret, etc. Amaya means so many diseases will come out of it. But everybody has to go through these things and ultimately misery is the gift of God. Now, coming back, this horrible description of what tamasika people like. And here also you have to understand that tamasika people, why do they like? Because tamas means they want to sleep and they are completely energy-less. They are inactive like foot rugs, like carpets, like mats. They don't feel like doing anything. What happens when such a person wants to cook? He will cook a huge quantity and he will cook it and keep it for days and days and days and then he will go on eating because he need not take the trouble of cooking again. And sometimes it gives terrible smell also. Indians are very clever. What do they do? A lot of oil, lot of spice so that this bad smell is transformed. That is why I call very hot pickles as Brahman because they cover up everything, make them appear to be extremely desirable foods. So, what are the types? Again, in the 10th verse, tamasika people very naturally are drawn, attracted when they see this kind of food. Even if they are offered rajasika food, they don't want. There are people, unfortunately. Why there are? Only God knows. But there are people. So, what is it? Yatha yamam. Food that has been cooked long time back. Yamam means some period of time, measurement of time and it has gone past its prime time. You know, after cooking, there is a specified amount of time. Only when we eat during that period, the food will be nutritious and good in every way. These people, long after that. Gatharasam. And it has lost, through natural process, all the juices have gone. It has become completely dried. Poothi. Poothi means putrid. It is smelling very badly. Pariyushitam. Stale. It has become very stale. And uchishtam. What do they do, these people? And they eat something and they put back again the same thing either in the fridge or anywhere and they have forgotten that such kind of food should not be eaten because whatever is offered to God, that is good. Whatever we have eaten, that is called uchishtam, polluted food. So, the polluted food is there, unclean is there and many times leftovers. So much, nowadays, leftovers. Many people, many restaurants, they don't want to lose money. They gather these leftovers and add something else, make it a little bit attractive, give it a French or Italian name and push it on to the unsuspecting or willingly accepting customers. So, these are the qualities. How many? First of all, food has been cooked a long time back and a long time has passed. First, then it has lost all its main ingredients. It has become dried in the course of time. Gata-rasam. Rasam is gone. Whereas, completely opposite to sattvika food. Then, pothi. It has become decomposed. It is giving a very unbearably bad smell. And then, pariyushitam. It has become completely unclean. And then, they themselves or some other people have kept it. They have eaten and just pushed the remainings there. Somebody else will come and then they will start eating, sometimes cold or sometimes even heated, but which is impure, polluted, is polluted. And, amedhyam. Absolutely, it is unfit to offer even to a decent person, let alone to God. Medhyam means, that which is capable of being offered to God, to seniors, to respectable persons. Now, this food is amedhyam. It can never be offered. So, amedhyam, uchishtam, pariyushitam, pothi, gata-rasam, yatayama. Six horrible qualities when food attains this kind of thing and that should not be eaten. Now, we have to understand that most of the foods, whether it is canned food, the vegetables or the animals have been killed long back. They have been canned. They have been preserved. Refrigerators do a lot of these ugly things. So, if anybody goes on eating refrigerated food, even after being made hot through microwave, etc., it doesn't lose its quality. Such foods ultimately develop what is called tamoguna. Nowadays, they also call it what is a peculiar thing which I could never understand. That is called fast foods. What is fast food? As soon as you go there, immediately the food is available. That is one meaning of fast food. Another is these fellows, they are so tied like slaves that perhaps the companies will give only 15 minutes time. Within 15 minutes, they take a hamburger and bite it full of mouth and they are unable to complete the chewing process and they take a bottle of coca-cola or a glass of coca-cola and use it like a piston to push it down. Most of the modern food falls either into the tamasika category or into the rajasika category. Mostly into the tamasika category. If we do not take care, then we become what we eat. So, moving on to this is all about food. I discussed it. Food and spiritual progress. Food and intellectual progress. Food and moral progress. Food and aesthetic progress. They have got tremendous relationship and the Bhagawan in these three verses has outlined everything that we can think about. He is not an encyclopedia. He gave us the hints to develop it. Just now, an incident came into my mind. I want to share it with you. It was Muhammad Ali. He was one of the greatest wrestlers and boxers in the world. And he has written a book I am the greatest. And I happened to read it. And one particular passage has struck me very much. It goes like this. This person is telling every one of these people they will have a guides, a manager who will be strictly laying down rules. You have to follow these rules. Otherwise, there is very little chance of your winning, etc. Now, what is happening here? This person is telling whenever there is any major match, wrestling match, two months before, the person's food and exercise and his relationship with his wife is absolutely curtailed by the manager. Early morning, he has to get up early morning and like a spiritual aspirant, he has to jog six miles, then go uphill and then come back home and then what he is going to eat is completely prescribed like that there. And whole day, then he has to practice with a dummy bag. Nowadays, there are electronic devices which are very difficult to wrestle with them and fight with them. The moment if you are just unaware for one billionth of a second, it comes and hits you in the head. It will not kill you, but it can quite badly hurt you. So, these are all available if you want to know about it, but my point is not that. Two months before, sex is completely prohibited. He can eat only what his manager tells him to eat. If he observes all these things, then there is a good chance, 50-50 chance that he can win a wrestling match. If even an ordinary goal entails so much of these things, just imagine what about a spiritual aspirant. So, we have to think very deeply, food both physical and intellectual and moral and spiritual is very very important. But one thing is there, offer any type of food to God and then eat. There is a good chance that our antahkarana, inner being will be purified and we will slowly progress in life. Now, moving on to the next verse that is very important. Now, three kinds of sacrificing. The word used is yagna. We have threadbare discussed about it in the fourth chapter where twelve types of yagnas were outlined by the Lord Krishna and the peak, the best of that yagna is called Brahma Yagna. And what is that Brahma Yagna? Whatever we do, just normally our devotees before eating food, they chant this particular 24th verse from the fourth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita A person who looks upon the food, the eater of the food the food which has been how it is cooked, the vessel it is cooked and the ladle that it is served everything comparing to a homa a yagna, lit up a fire and pour oblations there. That which is poured into the fire which is clarified butter the person who pours it the fire which is receiving it the ladles with which it is there and all the surroundings everything is nothing but Brahman the whole universe is nothing but Brahman. This is called Brahma Yagna. The ability to see God everywhere, that is called Brahma Yagna. Now those kind of yagnas have become almost extinct but now pujas are there modern pujas. We go to temples we go to ashramas, we also can attend online we have the privilege. These are all wonderful opportunities the modern technology offers us without moving from our seat from our chair at our homes we can observe all these things and still get quite an amount of benefit nothing can replace a person to person actual experience but this is the next best that anybody can do so that is what is called puja puja means worship worship of the gods etc now there are three ways the sattvika people do the worship in one way and the rajasika people do it in another way. Tamasika people do it in another way earlier we had discussed the only sattvika people worship divine beings gods and rajasika people because their aim is to get more power and more money, more wealth etc they worship yakshas rakshasas and other people but tamasika people they want to be brutes, human brutes and most of the demons that have been depicted in Hindu mythologies they belong to that category like Ravanasura Hiranyakashipu, Bhasmasura, Narakasura Pratakasura, so many asuras are there asura means one who delights in the sense enjoyment, he is called an asura asu means prana prana means indriyas so they use it to do subhachyap tapasya, they have their own preferences whom they have to worship but in this particular shlokas the lord is telling about the mental attitude with which this worship is done, with this background let us briefly touch the eleventh shloka afalakankshavi yajnaha vidhidhrishtaha yaha ijyate yashtavyam eva iti mana samadhaya sa sattvika, four characteristics of a sattvika mentality, sattvika outlook, so the motivation how sattvika people perform the worship of higher beings, remember they never worship rakshas, rakshasas, bhutas, vrithaganas, they only worship God, perhaps in different forms as Rama, as Krishna, Saraswati Lakshmi, Shiva Jesus, Buddha, etc so that sacrifice is of the nature of sattva, sattvika puja, which is offered according to the scriptural rules first the person never deviates from the scriptural rules by those who expect no reward, they are not doing it since I am doing it like office, I work so many hours I demand my wages, no oh lord, I am worshipping you, I surrender myself to you whatever you want to give when you want to give, how much you want to give, and in whatever form you want to give, I am so happy this is called karma yoga, pure karma yoga, what is it? I do everything for pleasing the divine lord Ishwara, arpana, buddhi and whatever the divine lord gives, that is called Ishwara prasada buddhi so without expecting any reward, according to the scriptural rules, because if I do this, the scripture is telling, it will be for my own good and the mind is full of joy, not forced at all, looking forward when am I going to be able to worship when am I able to offer these things such a type of mental attitude towards worship belongs to the sattvika category and we will discuss about it in future classes om vasude vasudham devam kamsa jano ramarthanam devaki paramanandam krishnam vande jagadgurum may Ramakrishna, holy mother and swami ekananda bless us all with bhakti Namah Shivaya.