Perfect devotee makes no discrimination over “Krsna prasadam”

Feb 27 1972 Mayapur
Bob: Let us say a devotee has a liking for one food over another food.
Prabhupāda: Yes. But if Kṛṣṇa does not like it, he won’t take.
Bob: And how does he know which food Kṛṣṇa likes him to take?
Prabhupāda: That is stated in the śāstra. You have to know from Kṛṣṇa. When you… Just like, what kind of behavior government likes, how do you know it? From the lawbooks. Is it not? Similarly, what Kṛṣṇa likes and not likes, you get from the śāstra. You cannot manufacture the like and disliking of Kṛṣṇa. …That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. To satisfy the senses of Kṛṣṇa. Not satisfy my senses. That is bhakti. That is called prema, love for Kṛṣṇa. “Oh, Kṛṣṇa likes this. I must give Him this.”
Bob: There is, some prasādam is offered, and then we go and eat, and different prasāda’s are served. And some I like, and some I find the taste not at all to my liking and do not eat.
Prabhupāda: You should not do that. The perfection is whatever is offered to Kṛṣṇa, you should accept everything. You cannot make, “I like this. I do not like this.” That is perfection. So long you make such discrimination that means you have not appreciated what is prasāda. (pause)
Devotee: What if there is someone… This… (Static)… likes and dislikes. Say, someone is preparing some prasādam…
Prabhupāda: No dislikings, no liking. Whatever Kṛṣṇa likes, that’s all right.
Devotee: Yes. But say someone prepares something, like some prasādam for Kṛṣṇa, but he does not make it so good, and it is…
Prabhupāda: No, if you have made sincerely with devotion, then Kṛṣṇa will like it. Just like Vidura. Vidura was feeding Kṛṣṇa banana. So he was so absorbed in thought he was, I mean to say, throwing away the real banana and he was giving Him the skin, and Kṛṣṇa was eating. (laughter) Because He knows that “He’s giving Me in the devotion.” So Kṛṣṇa can eat anything, provided there is devotion, real devotion. It does not matter whether it is materially tasteful or not. Similarly, a devotee also take Kṛṣṇa prasādam. Whether it is materially tasteful or not, he should accept everything.
Devotee: But the devotion is not there. Like in India…
Prabhupāda: Devotion is not there, He does not like any food, either is tasteful or not tasteful. He does not accept it.
Devotee: In India, somebody said…
Prabhupāda: No India, of India, don’t talk of India. Talk of the philosophy. If there is no devotion, Kṛṣṇa does not accept anything, either in India or in your country. It is not… Kṛṣṇa’s not obliged to accept anything costly because it is very tasteful. Kṛṣṇa has many tasteful dishes in Vaikuṇṭha. He’s not hankering after your food. He accepts your devotion. That out of… Bhaktyā, tad aham aśnāmi. Bhaktyā upahṛtam, real thing is devotion. Not the food. Kṛṣṇa does not accept any food of this material world. But He accepts only the devotion. Patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati [Bg. 9.26], tad aham aśnāmi bhaktyā upahṛtam. “Because it has been offered to Me with devotional love,” that is required. One who has no devotional love, from his hand… Therefore we do not allow anyone to cook who is not a devotee. Kṛṣṇa does not accept anything from the hands of a nondevotee. Why should He accept? He’s not hungry. He does not require any food. He accepts only the devotion. That’s all. That is the main point. So one has to become a devotee, not a good cooker. But if he’s a devotee, then he’ll be a good cook also. Yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ. Automatically he’ll become a good cook. Therefore one has to become devotee only; then all other good qualification will automatically be there. And if he’s a nondevotee, any good qualification has no value. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā mano-rathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ [SB 5.18.12]. He’s on the mental plane. So he has no good qualification. [break] The time?
Śyāmasundara: Six o’clock. Twenty more minutes, twenty minutes. [break]
Prabhupāda: It is… Question and Answer, it is required. It is beneficial to all the…
Bob: I still have…, do not understand so much about what you’re telling me about the prasādam. But if you like I’ll think about it and ask, ask you again tomorrow. About prasādam.
Prabhupāda: Prasādam is always prasādam. So because we are not elevated sufficiently, therefore we do not like some prasādam.
Bob: I found, specifically what I mean, is some was too spicy and hurt my stomach.
Prabhupāda: Well, that is also due to … not appreciate. But Kṛṣṇa should be… The cook should have consideration that Kṛṣṇa must be offered first-class foodstuff. So if he offers something last class, that is not his duty. But Kṛṣṇa can accept anything if it is offered by a devotee, and a devotee also can accept any prasādam, even if it is spicy. [break] Hiraṇyakaśipu gave his son poison and he drank it nectarine. So for the devotee even it is spicy to other taste, it is very palatable to the devotee. What is the question of spicy? He was offered poison, real poison. [break] …[Putana]she also offered Kṛṣṇa poison, but Kṛṣṇa’s so nice that “She took Me as My mother.” So He took the poison and delivered her. Kṛṣṇa does not take the bad side. Any good man, he does not take the bad side; he takes only the good side. [break] [Tirtha maharaja]He wanted to make business with my Guru Mahārāja. But he did not take the bad side. He took the good side that “He has come forward to give me some service. So whatever he wanted he gave him.”
Bob: Business with you, what was that? Business with who?
Prabhupāda: That is, I am talking about my Guru Mahārāja.
Bob: Oh, oh, I see. [break] …question on prasādam, if I may. Let us say if some devotee has some trouble and does not eat a certain type of food. Like some devotees do not eat ghee because of liver trouble. So these devotees, should they take all the prasādam?
Prabhupāda: No, no, no. I say those who are not perfect devotee, they may discriminate. But a perfect devotee does not discriminate. So why should you imitate a perfect devotee? So long you have discrimination, you are not a perfect devotee. So artificially why should you imitate a perfect devotee and eat everything?
Bob: Oh-h.
Prabhupāda: The point is, a perfect devotee does not make any discrimination. Whatever is offered to Kṛṣṇa, it is nectar. That’s all. Just like exactly Kṛṣṇa accepts anything from a devotee. “Whatever is offered to Me by My devotee,” He accepts. The same thing for a devotee. [break] …point?
Bob: Yes.
Prabhupāda: The perfect devotee does not make any discrimination. But if I am not a perfect devotee, I have got discrimination, why shall I imitate a perfect devotee? That will not be possible to assimilate or digest. Because I am not a perfect devotee. These things are… A devotee should not be a foolish man.
————————————

LA June 14 1972-lecture–He is mentioning especially vegetables, grains, fruits. But not that everyone can offer Kṛṣṇa all these things. No. He says yo me bhaktyā prayacchati. He does not accept anything from the hands of a nondevotee. Therefore the non-initiated student cannot offer Him.
He doesn’t accept. He says especially yo me bhaktyā prayacchati. He must be devotee. … Kṛṣṇa is giving you chance. It is very difficult to approach Kṛṣṇa, but Kṛṣṇa is so kind that He has appeared in your temple and He is accepting.
According to the rules and regulation, if you offer, He will accept.
This is the process of Deity worship.

May 6 1973 LA–.” Kṛṣṇa is not hungry. Kṛṣṇa is not hungry. He is self-satisfied, pūrṇa. But if His devotee offers Him something with love and affection, then He accepts. So do not think that “We have made such nice, sumptuous plate for Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa must eat.” No. There is no such thing, “must.” You cannot make Kṛṣṇa must. That is not possible. So Kṛṣṇa will see how much you have love for Him. Then He will accept. Otherwise He’ll reject. Therefore, it is forbidden, those who are nondevotee, those who are not initiated, those who are not chanting regularly, their offering to Kṛṣṇa will not be accepted. We must be very careful. We must know our position, whether I am sincerely following the principles of devotional service. Then Kṛṣṇa will accept. Yo me bhaktyā prayacchati. The real thing is bhakti. So either you offer Kṛṣṇa prayers or you offer foodstuff, everything must be along with bhakti, devotion, love. Then Kṛṣṇa will accept.
Jan 18 1971
Prabhupāda: Sama-darśinaḥ means you have no distinction what is sin and what is…
Guest (1): Sama-darśinaḥ means to treat everyone as equal.
Prabhupāda: No, no, no. Sama darśinaḥ means there is no distinction between sin and virtue. That is sama-darśinaḥ. As soon as you see, “This is virtue, and this is sin,” it is not sama-darśinaḥ.
Guest (1): Virtue and sin become the same in sama-darśinaḥ.
Prabhupāda: Yes. That is sama-darśinaḥ.
Guest (2): In other words, the sin does not remain sin any longer.
Prabhupāda: That is another thing. But he has no vision that “This is sin, and this is virtue.” That is sama-darśinaḥ. As soon as you make distinction, you are not sama-darśinaḥ.

Some Conclusions—We have gone thru this nice conversation with Srila Prabhupada over discrimination during taking of Krsna Prasadam and how a perfect devtotee makes NO discrimination-this is good prasadam and this is bad prasadam. No– he takes it all as Krsnas mercy. We also read that Krsna only accepts foodstuffs , no matter how palatable or not they are based only upon His one criteria-If there is love and devotion then He Krsna, God will accept our offering. We also saw where Prabhupada said if one is not initiated or not chanting regularly, that offering also Krsna will not accept.
So this is not a “done deal” by any means when we cook nicely, make nice preps, then put it on our altar and then automatically the Supreme Lord with just accept our offerings. We may think He does, but He is looking for the love in which we cooked it, and the love in the way we offered it (tulsi leaves also on each prep) to Him. Then if He Krsna is satisfied, then it become Krsnas Prasadam
We have included another conversation at the end where Prabhupada describes the sama darshina-the sage or devotee with pure vision who also makes no discrimination.
If we see– this is good prasadam and that is bad prasadam-that is not sama darshina. The criteria for everything is whether Krsna accepts our service-thats all.
Hare Krsna
damaghosa das