When the mahaprasad of devotees is so glorious, why are we discouraged from taking it during our regular interactions with other devotees?

Transcript

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Question, when the Mahaprasad of devotees is glorified so much, then why are we discouraged from taking the Mahaprasad of other devotees? Answer, it is not that we are discouraged from taking Mahaprasad, it is that we are encouraged to develop the proper consciousness by which we will be able to take Mahaprasad properly. So, we cannot divorce specific items of devotional culture from the broad fabric of the culture in which those items were taught and practiced.
So, Chaitanya Charita Amrit, where Mahaprasad is talked about quite often, talks about how devotees are so respectful to senior devotees, and they have such a profoundly reverential attitude towards those devotees, and with such an attitude, when one desires to love and serve the devotee, and desires to honor the Mahaprasad of the devotee, that will lead to purification. Because taking the Mahaprasad of someone, at one level if we see, Krishna is telling in the 17th chapter, when he talks about foods and goodness, passion and ignorance, he says that taking the Uchishta of someone is Tamasik. Or take the remnants of somebody else is Tamasik.
But then there is a famous verse in the 5th chapter of the 1st canto, where Narag Muni says that, that by taking the Uchishta of those great devotees, who were staying in the vicinity of my staying place, in the Yathur Masya, so when I took that, then, all my vast contaminations were destroyed, and then he says, I become purified, and I develop a taste for hearing about Krishna and for clarifying Krishna. So that is the purpose of whatever we are doing. To actually have our Arthas decrease, and to have our attraction to Krishna increase.
And we see that Narag Muni did service to the Vaishnavas for a substantial amount of time, and through that service developed a profound sense of reverence for them, and then desired to take the Mahaprasad. So we should actually observe our consciousness, and we should pray, we should pray internally and act externally in such a way that we develop a proper reverential attitude towards our devotees. Those devotees whose Mahaprasad we feel like taking.
And then after that when we take the Mahaprasad, then that will have a very potent effect. It will purify us and elevate us. But without that reverential attitude, if we take the Mahaprasad, then it will just become frivolizing, a very profound and potent activity.
We just devotees are just playing around, trying to grab something from someone else’s plate, and trying to take their Prasad, and Prabhuji, Prabhuji, you are such a great devotee, please let me take your Mahaprasad. We say Prabhuji and we say please, but then we forcibly take the Mahaprasad. Then if somebody is worthy of our submission and our respect, then how can we forcibly take something from that person.
So the idea is that Narad Muni also asked permission, and Vaishnavas gave permission and then he took Mahaprasad. So similarly, we should serve devotees in such a way that they become pleased with us, and when they are pleased with us, then they will give permission. And then that permission we can take.
So that will be purifying. So the whole idea of Mahaprasad is not just to somehow find some shortcut way to spiritual advancement, or material well-being. There is the mercy factor which will expedite things.
But still, there has to be also the recognition that one has to accompany that mercy factor with one’s own proper consciousness. So we try to focus on developing that consciousness in our heart, and then when somebody’s name is written, or somebody passes away, and the asceticism is performed, then that person whose Mahaprasad we are taking, that person’s Mahaprasad will also purify us in a far more effective way. So this taking Mahaprasad has to be integrated into the broad culture of which it is a part.
Then it will have tremendous miraculous potency. Thank you.