Does God Actually Eat?- Significance Of Prasad

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An intriguing question to ponder on- does God actually eat the food offered during worship as naivedya or prasadam? It is a common practice among Hindus to offer food to the deities while worshipping them. It is believed that the deities partake the food offered while worshipping and the leftovers is distributed among the devotees as 'prasad'.

But if we analyse it logically, the idols cannot move or eat whatever is offered in front of them. Then how does God eat? This question has been asked since time immemorial and there have been many instances where the devotees have claimed to see God eating by assuming a physical form. For example, the great saint Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa used to feed Goddess Kali with His own hands. He claimed to have seen the Goddess appear in front of Him in the form of a little girl and eat the offerings He made in front of Her.

But this is only a vague and far fetched explanation to the question. Let us find out whether God actually eats and what is the significance of prasad?

INTERESTING FACTS: SIGNIFICANCE OF TEMPLE BELLS

Views Of Various Scholars
According to Swami Sivananda, the founder of Divine Life Society, "if food is offered with a yearning heart, then sometimes God does eat it assuming a physical form. In other cases, God enjoys the subtle essence of the food offered and the food remains as it is in the shape of prasad."

According to Swami Vivekananda, God will actually partake the food in physical form if only the food is offered with a true heart and unfaltering devotion.

There have been many incidents in which people have actually seen God materialise and partake the food.

Who Actually Eats The Food?
To understand this, we first need to understand the concept of God. God is the Infinite ocean of Divine Consciousness which resides within and outside the human being. So, it is not the idol which eats the food offered, The food is blessed and eaten by the Divine consciousness which is present not only in the idol but everywhere, even within the human beings.
So, the food or naivedyam is offered to the Divine Consciousness and is eventually consumed by the same Consciousness residing within us in the form of 'prasad'.

Significance Of Prasad
The food which is offered to the God symbolically stands for our ignorant consciousness which we place before the deity or the Divine for spiritual enlightenment. After the offering is infused with the light and knowledge of the Divine Consciousness, it is consumed by the human beings who are the physical form of the Divine Consciousness.

Thus, God does eat the offerings made to Him in some or the other form. It is only the devotion, faith, sincerity and humility of the devotee which matters.