Cooking and Eating the divine way

by Srinivasan Ramarao

The famous saying OLD IS GOLD always prevails. In the modern electronic world we take food by habit and in hurry without knowing what we are eating and how we are eating. Our thoughts are either on the work, or rush to catch the bus, train etc. In case if we happen to relax and wish to take food, our eyes will be glued to TV or chatting loudly on useless subjects. In short we eat mechanically without knowing what we are eating.

Even Animals have a method of eating. Take for example the lion or tiger. They take their quantity of fresh flesh and eat separately. Elephants take the juicy food leisurely. Only Jackal, fox, eagles take stale foods. Birds check the food before eating it. See how cleaver they are.

Just imagine the food is served in a five star hotel. It is served in an impeccable style with nearness and leisurely. However the food will be less spicy and bland. Due to the royal etiquette we may not consume much. In hotels, Malls we take food hurriedly because of crowd. In other places the food served in unhygienic conditions and one may forced to take food out of necessity or may skip the food due to the environmental conditions.

In other places the food served in unhygienic conditions and one may forced to take food out of necessity or may skip the food due to the environmental conditions.

In home though everything is available we are not making use of it properly and take food hurriedly or with some other thoughts.

So in short we are not taking the food without any respect for it and this leads to poor health, loss of appetite etc.
However there is one method in taking the food at the homely atmosphere. That is taking it the DIVINE WAY. This is more possible in our home environment than outside as we are more in control on what we eat and what we serve.

In the modern world due to the influence of western culture we apply everything in our day to living due to laziness and not spared even the serving, cooking and taking the food. We think that the body and soul are one and the same and all acts are done according to our own wish and do everything according to our own whims and fancies.

Let us see the other way of taking the food in a divine way - more specifically in a traditional South Indian way.

In Bagavad-Gita, Lord, says
I am the fire of digestion (Vaishvanara) in the bodies of all living entities, and I join with the air of life, (Mukhya prana) outgoing and incoming, to digest four kind of foodstuffs. ( BG15-14)

The basic to be remembered is that the body and soul (Jiva or Atma) are different entity. Lord enters and remains in the body in two forms one as Atma (soul) and Antaratma (Activator). He digests the food and gives to jiva for sustenance of the body and watches as Antaratma (Activator) without binding Himself with the soul. (E.G.) SIM Card in Mobile phone (Atma) and as Controller of the company (Activator). The mobile phone requires these two essential things to function.

The food we eat can be classified in to four types:

1. Khadya: Food that is swallowed (E.g.: Rice food etc)
2. Sosya: Food that is chewed (E.g.: Boiled rice Ganji (Porridge)
3. Peya: Food that we drink (E.g.) Fruit juice, Milk etc)
4. Lehya: Food that we ate by using the tongue (E.g.) Halva etc.

Thus, Lord in His four forms digests the food we eat. The digested food must be properly assimilated and distributed to the entire body according to its quality. This is done by the five basic airs known as PRANA.

There are five types of prana in our body namely,

• PRANA (The vital air which keeps the body alive)
• VYANA (the essence of assimilated food converted to give strength)
• UDHANA (The essence of food converted to give blood and flesh
• SAMANA (The essence is distributed according to its nature to the respective parts of the body)
• APANA (undigested foods sent out from the body)

The food we eat has an influence on our behavior also. This can be classified into three types namely,

• Passive (Sathvic) - Foods dear to those in the mode of goodness increase the duration of life, purify one's existence and give strength, health, happiness and satisfaction. Such foods are juicy, wholesome, fatty, and pleasing to the heart.
• Rustic or aggressive (Rajasik)-Foods that are too bitter, too sour, salty, hot, pungent, dry and burning are dear to those in the mode of passion. Such food causes misery, distress and disease.
• Lazy or drowsy (Thamasik) Foods that are prepared more than three hours before being eaten, food that is tasteless, decomposed and putrid, and food consisting of remnants and untouchable things are dear to those in the mode of darkness (Bagavat Gita- Ch-17-8.9.10)

Art of serving food

It is customary in South Indian style first to invite personally the people to come to take the food. The food will be served in the day time (LUNCH). The place is neatly cleaned and food is served in a plantain leaf. The food will be prepared according to the prescribed occasions (auspicious occasions and inauspicious occasions) and there will be no mixing of the food from one another.

Once the food is prepared it is first offered to the Lord before being served. The reason being the Lord remains in the food offered as rasa (essence) to give taste for the food. It is a respect for the Lord just like respect shown to the Chief Guest. The Food is served in the presence of the persons when they are seated. Several course of dish is served according to the occasion in an orderly way in the respective places of the leaf.

Each item is considered as a representative of the Lord just like that of people queued before the chief guest. All the prepared items should be served in small quantity first and finally the main course of the item namely RICE is served with Ghee on top of it. (Ghee strengthens our bone marrow for our longevity). This is the Chief Guest and considered as Lord of the food. There are two reasons behind it, namely first it is total offering to the Lord and secondly the guest can know what is prepared and he can ask and get more of it according to his wish. While seated one must sit leaving a gap (without touching each other) and keep a glass of water by the side.

Before serving the food the Holy water prepared for the Lord is served for the guests taking food and one has to touch the leaf with his left hand middle finger and receive the Holy water and all has to chant the name of the God ( Invoking the Lord's name) simultaneously ( Just like CHEERS). A small part of the rice is first taken out separately and four parts placed by the side of the leaf to give respect,

1. Respect for the Lord who made to eat,
2. Respect for our Patents who made us to grow
3. Respect for the Teacher (Guru) who gives the right knowledge
4. Respect to the Demi -Gods to help in our day to day activities.

It is nothing but a thanks giving and remembering them always who takes care of our well being knowingly and unknowingly.
After that a few particles of rice with ghee has to be swallowed (without grinding it by teeth) five times to feed as food for the five Pranas in the body (as stated earlier). Then the food is taken one after another staring with the sweet item first. During the course of one have to maintain silence and eat the food by thinking of it and the form of the Lord in it. This enables our digestive system to function effectively and also able to relish the quality of the food we eat. Once serving is over and all have finished taking food all has to get up by remembering the Lord and thank Him for given a nice food for the day.

South Indian Foods

Interestingly the south Indian foods are closely knitted with the various types of festivals which take place in a year. Almost there will be a festival at least once in a week. Each festival has a special brand of food and naturally there will be a variety of flavor of taste in the food too. The festivals come according to the season and the food too is prepared as per the fruits, vegetables available during these seasons.

We have heard about many of the south Indian dish varieties and used to it and it is explained in many web sites. I wish to introduce some of the rare items which is not commonly used.
They are,

• Sweets
  • [Puffed Laddu]
  • [Akkaravadisal]
  • [Asoka Halwa]
• Breakfast
  • [Puffed rice upma]
  • [Puffed rice venpongal]
  • [Puffed rice Gojju]
  • [Katharikkai Gothsu] (side dish)
  • Puliyodarai
• Lunch
  • [Thanjavur morekolambu]
  • [Puffed rice curd rice]