(HH Kadamba Kanana Swami, 13th May, Sydney, Australia) Lecture: Sunday Feast Bg 8.19
It’s Gita Jayantii and we recite the entire Gita. What it means nobody knows, it doesn’t matter but we recite it anyway, as fast as possible! We recite the whole Gita and everybody is chanting, it is so nice. Yes, it’s wonderful, and no one understood a word of it! It’s a very auspicious occasion. So that is the idea. Of course it is always auspicious to hear the Sanskrit of the Gita, but it is not just meant for recitation. What if Kurma were to come here on a Sunday and starts to recite the recipes. Kurma – great cook, great recipes:
‘Add a pinch of salt and a bit of ginger, cut the potatoes into cubes, and so on.’
Well after about ten recipes he is rattling them off. And we go:
‘It is amazing, who knows so many recipes?’
But that is not as impressive as when Kurma goes into the kitchen. As I remember in Melbourne when Kurma used to cook the offerings and there was a whole ritual, because the rule was that: no one can touch the Maha-Prasadam. If you dare to touch the Maha-Prasadam after it comes off the alter, and if you try to steal anything, then Kurma will kill you!
Everybody knew it right? So watch out! He was serious about it, very serious. So anyway everyone would wait nearby for Kurma to personally collect it and then he would sit people down and serve it out. He had cooked extras and before you knew it there was ice cream as well and every drop of it was just nectar, everything was just perfect. What can we say?
Therefore in reciting when it comes to cook books it is nice if some one can recite, but it is nicer if someone can actually cook the preps! In the same way with the Bhagavad-Gita it is not just for recitation, the Bhagavad-Gita is meant to be a key to life. It’s meant to lift us up, it is meant to transform us, and it is meant to help us to get a grip on life, since otherwise it would be full of chaos!
