Hare Krishna ! Food in order to be fit for offering to the Lord, must be cooked with devotion by a Vaishnava ! We cannot simple take vegetarian food already cooked by a non-devotee and then offer it to Narayana and claim it to be prasadam ! We simply cannot speculate in this manner. Prasadam must be prepared as per shastric codes, not our speculation or whims ! even a shivaite cooking cannot be taken as prasadam because it is offered to a devata without first being offered to the Lord ! that is why we do not even take the food offered to the devata in a demigod temple ! because they do not have the capacity to remove sins without the atma antaryami sriman narayanan's blessings. then what to speak of food prepared by an avaishnava ?! the point is that one has to cook the food with devotion (only authorised food that is), and offer it to the lord in a very personal manner, not just mentally but actually doing it because our entire vedic culture is based on seeing the Lord as a real person with whom to relate to. and then partake of the remnants as bhagavad prasadam. so long we remain lazy in this matter, we have to admit that we are the ones who are lazy, not that the rules are rigid or that we can compromise and pass off defiled food prepared by cow slaughterers as bhagavad prasadam !!!! regarding the killing of silkworm for silk, etc. we must first understand one thing. a vaishnava is not interested in mundane non-violence ! his idea of violence and non-violence is based on shastra pramanam. this world is created by the lord and He has made it clear regarding that which is bona fide and that which is not. the use of silk and honey are authorised as good and pure and that there is no harm is taking them. if silk is used in deity worship and honey for the lord's abhishek or offering, there is nothing wrong at all since the lord is pleased by these things and if we are to use these thereafter as prasadam, that is best. this may seem contrary to logic and pratyaksham since we see killing taking place. but shastra has given the green light which means that the intended use is fulfilled and hence since shastra comes from the lord and is perfect, no entity involved in this business from the human to the silkworms or bees, suffer any bad reaction. the purpose of things in creation is sometimes inconceivable to the jiva and therefore it is best to take the shastric guidance. otherwise by our own speculated moral platform we would only become lost ! the lord says clearly in the Gita that one who shirks off shastra and acts whimsically does not achieve any siddha, sukha or parama gati in this life or the next and this applies even in the matter of determining what is right and wrong, what is violence and what is not. in matters authorised by shastra as perfectly proper, the entity that is killed achieves a better birth. we may also say that destroying trees to print books on vaishnavam is also killing but no --- by so doing, the trees are benefitted and they return back to the lord or may get a better birth. but animal slaughter for food or unnecessary killing apart from these is seen as sin and therefore when the lord Himself has deemed so, we cannot speculate but must tow the line. otherwise for breaching the rules, we have to take heavy karmic reaction. so we are not interested in vegetarianism or meat. we are interested in following the codes given by the Lord. that is vaishnavism ! otherwise we will speculate and say milk is bad or milk is sin, egg is okay, etc, onion is good and so is coffee and tea --- these are all speculations based on fulfilling the palate's demands, not the Lord's ! so best to take advice from the Lord Himself and do as necessary. Hare Krishna dasan, R. Jai Simman Singapore
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