How do Gauòéya Vaiñëavas offer Bhoga to the Lord?

MAHÄRÄJA JÉ- Well, now you are asking a question- ‘How to offer Bhoga to the Lord. When you cook rice, capäti, däla etc., how do Gauòéya Vaiñëavas offer Bhoga to the Lord?

Well, it’s a very honest and a very important question. We should offer the Bhoga in the same way Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé offered Bhoga, the same way Jagannätha Däsa Bäbäjé offered Bhoga and same way Bhaktivinoda Öhäküra and all other Äcäryas in the entire Gauòéya Vaiñëava Sampradäya offered Bhoga since last 500 years.

Bhoga is offered in one-way, particular way only, in the entire Gauòéya Vaiñëava Sampradäya. What is that particular way? See, first of all Bhoga is offered simultaneously in two places. The two places are- Nitya Navadvépa and Nitya Våndävana. Eternal Våndävana and Eternal Navadvépa.

So, I’ll tell you the Bhoga, how it is offered in Nitya Navadvépa first, then will explain about Nitya Våndävana. In Nitya Navadvépa, we offer three plates of Bhoga. If you practically can prepare three plates, then it’s okay, otherwise one plate is also sufficient. By one plate, you meditate that these are four plates. And one is offered to Çré Kåñëa in Våndävana, and the rest of the three plates are offered to Çré Gauräìga Mahäprabhu, Çré Nityänanda Prabhu, and Çré Advaitäcärya. So, three plates are being offered to Them, so we’ll give Them Bhoga along with Tulasé leaves on it and by Dékñä Mantras, Béja Mantras we offer them Bhoga. After some time, when they have taken their Bhoga- Lord Nityänanda, Advaitäcärya and Gaura, we give Them water to rinse Their mouths, and then we give Them cloth to wipe off Their faces.

So, this is the first stage of offering Bhoga. Bhoga is offered in three steps. This is the first step. In the second step, Lord Gauräìga’s Mahäprasäda is offered to Gadädhara Paëòita and Çréväsa Paëòita.

Païca Tattva is not directly offered Bhoga, straight away. We put a plate of Bhoga in front of Païca Tattva and you think after 15 minutes we will pick up the plate, so this is Païca Tattva Prasädam. No. This is not so. Prasädam is of three Prabhus. And it is offered to Gadädhara Paëòita and Çréväsa Paëòita also every day.

In the morning around 7:30 or so, every day, Gadädhara Paëòita takes Katha in the house of Lord Gauräìga. And, before taking Katha, all the three Prabhus, they take Prasäda, and after They have taken Prasäda, the remnants of Lord Gauräìga’s plate are given to Gadädhara Paëòita. Gadädhara Paëòita before taking class, He eats remnants of Lord Gauräìga, then He takes class. He gives Lecture. And, Äraté of all three Prabhus is being done and Bhoga also is offered to the three Prabhus. And, after that to Gadädhara Paëòita and then after some time Gadädhara Paëòita, all the Pärñada, Svarüpa Damodara, Rämänanda Räya, they all, after Lord Gauräìga, in the 2nd phase of offering, they are offered Lord Gauräìga’s prasäda. After that, we give Them water to rinse Their mouths and we wipe off Their faces.

After that, this prasädé, Mahäprasädé is given to Gosvämé-Varga. Rüpa Gosvämé, Sanätana Gosvämé and our Guru Varga. And after that we give them water to rinse their mouth and wipe off the face.

And, if you are unable to understand this thing by small video, then you can call our devotees on the numbers given below. And, you can understand in detail how Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé used to offer Bhoga, how we offer Bhoga it’s the same way, same simple way.

Similarly, on the other side, we offer the Bhoga to Lord Kåñëa. Whatever we cook we offer it to Lord Kåñëa. And, after sometime we give Him water to rinse His mouth and wipe off His face. Then, in the 2nd phase of offering, Çré Kåñëa’s remnants are given to Rädhäräné and Lalitä-Viçäkhä Sakhés. Rädhä and Kåñëa are not offered plate directly and (clapping) you claim Rädhä Çyämasundara Mahäprasäda ki Jaya, Rädhä Mädhava Mahäprasäda… It is not so.

Only Lord Kåñëa first honours whatever is being offered. After that, remnants of Çré Kåñëa are given to Lalitä-Viçäkhä Sakhé and Rädhäräné. This is the 2nd phase of offering. Rädhäräné is not offered in the first phase. Then, after 2nd phase, we offer water to Rädhäräné and Lalitä-Viçäkhä Sakhés so that They can wash mouth. You do kullä, äcamana after you take food, similarly they do kullä, äcamana, after everyone takes food. Then you wipe off your face with a cloth, they do the same, wipe off their face with a cloth. Then in the 3rd phase of offering, the Ñaò Gosvämés, who are the Maïjarés, the Nitya Maïjarés, they are offered Mahäprasäda of Rädhäräné in the 3rd phase. And our Guru Maïjaré Varga also.

So, Rüpa-Rati ädi Maïjaré Varga, Guru Maïjaré Varga, they are offered Bhoga in the 3rd phase. So, after that they rinse their mouth and wipe off the face.

You don’t know about your Dékñä Paramparä, you can’t even offer Bhoga, understand this thing. How will you offer 3rd Bhoga? You don’t know who your Guru Varga are? Neither you can offer 3rd Bhoga in Nitya Navadvépa nor you can offer 3rd Bhoga in Nitya Vraja. Without proper unbroken Dékñä paramparä, you cannot. Forget attaining Prema Sevä of Rädhä-Kåñëa or Lord Gauräìga, you can’t even offer Bhoga, you can’t even offer Äraté.

Because when you offer Äraté, Äraté is offered to the Three Lords- Gaura, Nitäi and Advaita. And after that prasädé is given to Gadädhara Paëòita, Çréväsa Paëòita, and Gosvämé Varga and to Guru Varga. You can’t even give Äraté to your Guru Varga because you don’t know who your Guru Varga are! You have no clue who your Guru Varga are.

So, this is the way we offer Bhoga to the Lord. We need not do 4 plates; we can cook only one plate and meditate that these are 4 plates. One is offered to Kåñëa and 3 three are offered to Nitäi, Gaura, Advaita.

Till inventions by Bhakti Siddhänta Sarasvaté, till Bhaktivinoda Öhäküra, everything was practically the same done by all Gauòéya Vaiñëavas, entire Gauòéya Vaiñëava Sampradäya. There were no two opinions on anything. Everyone used to follow exactly the same, so there’s no need to put any kind of çikñä paramparä in the Altar. There is no need! Because everyone is following the same. Why is there any need? There is no need! Everyone is following the same way. You just put a picture of your Guru and your Guru, and further your Guru paramparä, that’s it.

For your understanding, I would like to tell you one thing, you can’t offer Bhoga also, till you are connected to a proper Gauòéya Vaiñëava Lineage.

And, another thing is, you don’t even know that there are not six Gosvämés in Våndävana, there are Añöa Gosvämés. In the 3rd offering, when we offer prasäda of Lord Gauräìga to Gosvämés, they are not six Gosvämés, these are eight Gosvämés. Lokanätha Gosvämé and Kåñëa Däsa Kaviräja Gosvämé are 7th and 8th ones. You need to know that there are 8 Gosvämés, and need to have proper Dékñä Lineage, so that you can even start offering Bhoga and Äraté.

Forget perfection, understand what is the importance of Tilaka, and how to offer Bhoga. You don’t even have a clue what ABC of Gauòéya Vaiñëavism is. Just because of clinging to a famous cult.

And, why should we offer food only in this way? Answer is- this is called sädhanä. Sädhanä means doing those things which we do eternally in the Spiritual World, doing sädhanä to attain the same. We offer Bhoga in these 3 steps in Nitya Vraja also, in Nitya Navadvépa also. So, we are doing sädhanä here in exactly the same way.

This is-

siddhasya lakñaëam yat syät sädhanam sädhakasya tat

siddhasya lakñaëam yat syät – what is normal for a siddha, this is sädhanä for a Sädhaka.

Rüpa Gosvämé etc., who are serving Lord Gauräìga in the Spiritual World, they offer food this way only. Maïjaré Varga, they offer food this way only. And, what is natural for them, this is sädhanä for us. This is the meaning of sädhanä- doing those activities here, which we’ll do there. Why should we serve mentally Rädhä Kåñëa here? Because this is what we want to do there only. This is called sädhanä, what else is sädhanä? Sädhanä is not a mechanical repetition of a certain number of rounds.

And, another thing is, Lord Kåñëa is offered Bhoga first and after that his prasädé is given to Rädhäräné. And when you are offering Bhoga the Iskcon way, what is the Iskcon way of offering Bhoga? Namaù om viñëu pädäya Arre bhäé! No one offers Bhoga of namaù oà viñëu-pädäya, in the spiritual world. You don’t even offer the prasädé of Kåñëa to Rädhäräné here, then how are you going to do this eternally there in the Spiritual World? You have done no sädhanä for that. You’ve got no clue of how to offer Bhoga to Rädhäräné every day.

Rädhäräné doesn’t take Bhoga, she takes only Prasäda. And, you are not offering Prasäda of Kåñëa to Rädhäräné here, how can you attain this service eternally there, ask yourself!

You are not doing any sädhanä. It is not that you are offering Bhoga namaù oà viñëu-pädäya, some Çloka and think you will go to the Spiritual World and offer food in another way. This doesn’t happen. Sädhanä has to be done. Proper sädhanä.

We do Äraté exactly the same way Äraté is done in the Spiritual World. We offer food exactly the same way food is offered in the Spiritual World. There is no need to offer Bhoga this way, the way Iskcon is offering Bhoga. There is no need to do Äraté. You don’t even know there Äraté is done of Three Prabhus. After 50 years in an organisation, you don’t even know Äraté is done of 3 Prabhus.

Just see how unfortunate we are! Just because an organization is successful you think everything is right. Arre! Nothing is right. Open your eyes, get your legs moving, see how things are done in the entire Gauòéya Vaiñëava Sampradäya, you’ll be shocked to know!

When I moved out of Iskcon, I was searching for the truth, I saw how Bhoga is offered. As soon as I got to know, Bhoga is offered to the two places. That moment only I decided, I will not stay in Iskcon. They don’t even know ABCD, how to offer Bhoga. When I got Prasäda in my hand for the first time, the plate was offered to three Prabhus and Rädhä Kåñëa. I got Prasäda, I told devotees who were loyally associated with me. I showed them Prasäda, I asked them, which Prasäda is Lord Gauräìga, or Lord Kåñëa? They were shocked. They said either it can be Prasäda of Lord Kåñëa or of Lord Gauräìga. Because they didn’t know the reality. I told them- No, this Prasäda is simultaneously. It was cake Prasäda. This cake Prasäda is simultaneously of Kåñëa and Lord Gauräìga both. Why? Because in meditation this Bhoga, this cake is offered to the Three Prabhus and Lord Çré Kåñëa. And, all the Bhoga offering, feast is being done. The cake may look the same, but this is Mahäprasäda of Advaita, Nitäi, Gaura and Kåñëa, Rädhäräné, everyone. Kåñëa, and after Kåñëa Bhoga, second offering to Rädhäräné, to Gadädhara, Çréväsa.

This is the Prasäda of entire Prabhus, then Rädhäräné, Gadädhara Paëòita, Gosvämé Varga, Guru Varga. This is the Prasäda of everyone. The moment I got to know all this, I immediately decided not to stay in Iskcon for one moment. Why waste even a single second of your life in a place where nothing is Sampradäyika, everything is created! Sampradäyika means bestowed.

Was this Païca Tattva Mantra bestowed upon you? Was this namaù oà viñëu-pädäya bestowed upon you? Was this way of offering Bhoga bestowed upon you? No, you created everything. Was this Maìgala that you do saàsära dävänala, was this bestowed upon you? No, you created everything. Did you see Bhaktivinoda Öhäküra doing Maìgala? Did you see Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé doing Maìgala? How did they do Maìgala? This way? Never! You can do saàsära dävänala in addition to the padäs, that is okay. But, doing saàsära dävänala instead of real Maìgala Pada gäna of Rädhä-Kåñëa and Païca Tattva, this is absolutely wrong.