As Krishna is the ultimate beneficiary, is devata prasad also Krishna-prasad?

From Ankur P
Answer Podcast:

Thank you. Hare Krishna. Question from Ankur Prabhu.
Is the food offered to the devatas also Krishna prasad because Krishna is the ultimate beneficiary of all yajnas? Answer. Yes, Krishna is the ultimate beneficiary. But if our consciousness is not connected with Krishna, then if our intention is not to worship Krishna, then that particular result of the Krishna prasad doesn’t manifest when we offer prasad to devatas.
Krishna talks about this in the 9th chapter when he talks in 23rd, 24th verses about how So he says, yes, those who are worshipping the devatas are also worshipping me. But the key word is the last word, avidhipurvakam. Avidhipurvakam is not properly, not according to the vidhi.
The vidhi is what? If you want to worship a devata, worship devatas. If you want to worship Krishna, you worship Krishna. Of course, the scriptural conclusion is that better to worship the Supreme Lord rather than devatas.
And the next verse makes it even more clear. That I am the beneficiary of all yajnas. That’s true.
But one does not know this. Such a person falls from the position. That means one will not become elevated if one doesn’t know Krishna’s position.
So because the intention of the demigod worshipper is not to worship Krishna but to worship a particular devata, so therefore their connection remains limited to that particular devata. Although the benediction, whatever is being offered to the devata will ultimately go to Krishna and whatever results are going to be given, they are also given by Krishna. But because these people, demigod worshippers are interested in the devata and not in Krishna.
So Krishna does not trust himself on those devatas, on those devata upasakas, on those demigod worshippers. And he lets the reciprocation be primarily between the demigod worshipper and the demigod. This is the way Krishna respects the free will of the living entity that if this is what you want to worship, then you can worship that.
Krishna says, 9.25 talks about this. So the point is that devatas prasad is from the worshippers point of view, devatas prasad only. It is not Krishna prasad because the worshipper did not have the intention to offer food to Krishna.
And Krishna also says that actually the food which he accepts is the food which is offered to him with devotion. 9.26 says that with bhaktia, patram, pushpam, phalam, tol should be offered. But certainly when somebody is offering to the devata, there is no bhakti for Krishna.
And that’s why from the worshippers point of view, that is not Krishna prasad. Now in some cases, for example, there are some temples like in Puri, say, where the food is offered to Krishna first and then it may be offered to some other devatas. So in that case, then it is primarily Krishna prasad that is being offered to the devatas.
Understanding devatas are devotees of Krishna. So in that case, when there is a conscious intention to offer the food to Krishna and then to the devatas, then that is Krishna prasad, which also becomes a prasad of his particular devotees, the devatas. And thus it becomes like the maha-maha prasad.
But the point is that it has to be offered with the intention of being offered to Krishna. Then it is Krishna prasad. Thank you.
Question from Shravan Prabhu.