May twentytwentyfive Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami Food Thought

[Srivatsa Ramaswami]

May 2025 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami—Food Thought

In April, I taught a four day 8 hr workshop on some important vinyasakrama sequences and pranayama methods. It was an online program hosted by my friend Ryan Leier from Canada

In June 2025 I am scheduled to teach a 20 day, 100 Teacher Training program. It is being hosted by Atmayogashala in Chennai. It has a 60 hour component of vinyasakrama asanas pranayama and other aspects of yoga practice which can be attended in person or on line. In the evening for the first 10 days Sri Krishnamacharya"s yoga Rahasya will be gone through in detail. The second 10 days will be for study of Yoga Yagnyavalkya. Here is the link

https://atmayogashala.practicenow.us/students/subscriptions?service=workshop&fbclid=IwY2xjawJ8irpleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFxWTZ1dnlqcmtKM2w3VGtwAR42EIjQRiJXsQ5-QliBw_z3qiEP9jckpSVadMhGaTB0-wTDo08FKPXkm3FcHQ_aem_VH8JzaZSqrfhussAhOhcbw

My book Samkhya Karika I understand will be released on May 6 2025 "globally" Here is a link

https://www.innertraditions.com/samkhya-karika

Samkhya Karika

A detailed guide to Samkhya Vedic philosophy and how to break free from the cycles of rebirthPresenting a translation of Samkhya Karika from the Sanskrit, along with commentary, Srivatsa Ramaswami explores all the 72 slokas (verses) word by word. The author reveals how Samkhya Karika explains the origin and evolution of the universe and how it identifies the true nature of the Self as ...

www.innertraditions.com

Can be got also through on line book sellers like Amazon, Barnes and Noble .....

Food Thought

Many communities all over the world have great respect for food and food is even venerated in some ancient scriptures like the vedas. Food is life which is recognized by even a child. In fact, before taking food, it used to be a custom to make a proffering to the deity one worships. Anna or food itself is worshipped as god or goddess as the name annalakshmi would show.

Here are three mantras from the vedas that extol food or annam

अन्नं न निन्द्यात् । तद्व्रतम् । annaṃ na nindyāt | tadvratam | "One should not deprecate food." It is a vow

अन्नं न परिचक्षीत । तद्व्रतम्  annaṃ na paricakṣīta | tadvratam ।One must never waste food. Tt is a vow

अन्नं बहु कुर्वीत । तद्व्रतम् annaṃ bahu kurvīta | tadvratam Grow more food. It is a vow

In India in the olden days (some still follow the routine) it is customary to place the food usually cooked before the venerated icon in the worship or puja room and make an offering before the family is served with food as prasada

Here is a sloka from the Gita often said as a prayer before taking food. Many yoga practitioners use this prayer before food

ब्रह्मार्पणं ब्रह्म हविर्ब्रह्माग्नौ ब्रह्मणा हुतम् |
ब्रह्मैव तेन गन्तव्यं ब्रह्मकर्मसमाधिना || 24||

brahmārpaṇaṁ brahma havir brahmāgnau brahmaṇā hutam
brahmaiva tena gantavyaṁ brahma-karma-samādhi

For those who are completely absorbed in brahman, the oblation is Brahman, the ladle with which it is offered is Brahman, the act of offering is Brahman, and the sacrificial fire is also Brahman. Such persons, who view everything as brahman, easily attain Him.

Even as one eats there is a tidy little procedure with mantras taken from the vedas. Usually, sitting on the floor cross legged with a banana leaf to serve the food, the procedure is followed. The eater would take a spoonful of water in the hand and sprinkle lightly on the food usually cooked rice (in south India) and silently chant the mantra " om bhurbhuvassuvah" ( here it could mean the atman brahman represented by the mantra om manifests as the atman/observer of three states one goes through daily as the waking, dreaming and sleeping states represented by the  three vyahritis.

Then the eater takes another spoonful of water in the hand and sprinkles it clockwise around the leaf containing food with the mantra

Devasavita prasuva देवसवितप्रसूव  (Oh savita or Sun, permit me to have this food)

 Then taking another spoonful of water in the palm, one does the same procedure again with the mantra 

सत्यन्त्वर्तेन परिषिञ्चामि  if it is day time and ऋतंत्वा सत्येन परिषिञ्चामि if it is after sun set

Here the two words used are satya and Rta two words employed in the vedas almost synonymously. Satya is existence or Truth. Truth alone exists untruth vanishes with the dawn of dormant truth. Rta is straightforwardness, and is considered to indicate truth. The word Rishi would mean a straightforward person and a speaker of Truth that is Brahman which alone qualifies to be called satya.

In these two mantras the words satya and rta are interchanged. What do the mantras. सत्यन्त्वर्तेन परिषिञ्चामि

ऋतंत्वा सत्येन परिषिञ्चामि mean?. In the daytime the food is addressed as Satya or brahman itself and the encircling water is called Rtam. It would mean "I encircle you Satya (food) with this water Ruta.. In the night the mantra would mean that the food (ruta) I encircle with Satya. 

The word Satya and Rta are used in the vedas to represent Brahman

ऋतँ सत्यं परंब्रह्म  ṛtamsatyaṃ paraṃbrahma

Then the eater would pour a spoonful of water into the palm and sip it from the hand silently saying 

 amruta upastaranam asi; अमृतोपस्तरणमसि meaning oh! amruta (necter here water)  be a support to the food I am going to eat

Then one morsel of the cooked rice in taken and held between the tips of thumb and ring finger and put into the mouth while silently saying the mantra

 om pranaya swaha

Meaning "hail the prana vayu" the inward acting life force

Then this is repeated 5 times more with the following mantras chanted silently with taking each morsel 
om apanaya swaha, Hail apana the outward life force that expels wastes from the body
om vyanaya swaha, Hail vyana that circulates the nuitrients all over the body
om udanaya swaha, Hail udana that among other things control the regular shift between prana and apana
om samanaya swaha, the life force that enables digestion of food.
om brahmane swaha Hail brahman the immutable consciousness

Then after eating the satisfied subject would pour another spoonful of water into the hollow of the cupped  palm and sip with the mantra 

amruta apidhanamasi.  अमृतापिधानमसि 

Oh amrita/water be the cover to the food I have taken.

This is actually a reduced version of the complete mantra in the vedas (maha narayana upanishad)

श्रद्धायां प्राणे निविष्टोऽमृतं जुहोमि । शिवो मा विशाप्रदाहाय । प्राणाय स्वाहा ॥ 

 श्रद्धायामपाने निविष्टोऽमृतं जुहोमि । शिवो मा विशाप्रदाहाय । अपानाय स्वाहा ॥

 श्रद्धायां व्याने निविष्टोऽमृतं जुहोमि । शिवो मा विशाप्रदाहाय । व्यानाय स्वाहा ॥

 श्रद्धायामुदाने निविष्टोऽमृतं जुहोमि । शिवो मा विशाप्रदाहाय । उदानाय स्वाहा ॥

 श्रद्धायाꣳ समाने निविष्टोऽमृतं जुहोमि । शिवो मा विशाप्रदाहाय । समानाय स्वाहा ॥ 

 ब्रह्मणि म आत्मामृतत्वाय ||

śra̠ddhāyā̎-mprā̠ṇē nivi̍ṣṭō̠-'mṛta̍-ñjuhōmi । 

With faith/reverence I offer as oblation, this nectar (food) into Prana
śi̠vō mā̍ vi̠śāpra̍dāhāya । prā̠ṇāya̠ svāhā̎ ।

May it produce peace (hunger removed) as it is assimilated
śra̠ddhāyā̍mapā̠nē nivi̍ṣṭō̠-'mṛta̍-ñjuhōmi ।

With faith/reverence I offer as oblation, this nectar (food) into apan
śi̠vō mā̍ vi̠śāpra̍dāhāya । a̠pā̠nāya̠ svāhā̎ ।

May it produce peace (hunger removed) as it is assimilated
śra̠ddhāyā̎ṃ vyā̠nē nivi̍ṣṭō̠-'mṛta̍-ñjuhōmi ।

With faith/reverence I offer as oblation, this nectar (food) into vyana
śi̠vō mā̍ vi̠śāpra̍dāhāya । vyā̠nāya̠ svāhā̎ ।

May it produce peace (hunger removed) as it is assimilated
śra̠ddhāyā̍-mudā̠nē nivi̍ṣṭō̠-'mṛta̍-ñjuhōmi ।

With faith/reverence I offer as oblation, this nectar (food) into udana
śi̠vō mā̍ vi̠śāpra̍dāhāya । u̠dā̠nāya̠ svāhā̎ ।

May it produce peace (hunger removed) as it is assimilated
śra̠ddhāyāgṃ̍ samā̠nē nivi̍ṣṭō̠-'mṛta̍-ñjuhōmi ।

With faith/reverence I offer as oblation, this nectar (food) into samana
śi̠vō mā̍ vi̠śāpra̍dāhāya । sa̠mā̠nāya̠ svāhā̎ ।

May it produce peace (hunger removed) as it is assimilated

brahma̍ṇi ma ā̠tmā-'mṛ̍ta̠tvāya̍ ॥ 

By these oblations may me self (person) be united with Brahman in yoga and attain immortality.

Then as mentioned earlier a spoonful of water is sipped from the palm and the mantra amrita apdhanamasi is silently meditated

After taking food the vedas refer to another set of mantras before getting up from the dinner seat.

श्र॒द्धाया᳚-म्प्रा॒णे निवि॑श्या॒-ऽमृतग्ं॑ हु॒तम् । प्रा॒ण मन्ने॑नाप्यायस्व ।
श्र॒द्धाया॑मपा॒ने निवि॑श्या॒-ऽमृतग्ं॑ हु॒तम् । अ॒पा॒न मन्ने॑नाप्यायस्व ।
श्र॒द्धायां᳚-व्याँ॒ने निवि॑श्या॒-ऽमृतग्ं॑ हु॒तम् । व्या॒न मन्ने॑नाप्यायस्व ।
श्र॒द्धाया॑-मुदा॒ने निवि॑श्या॒-ऽमृतग्ं॑ हु॒तम् । उ॒दा॒न मन्ने॑नाप्यायस्व ।
श्र॒द्धायाग्ं॑ समा॒ने निवि॑श्या॒-ऽमृतग्ं॑ हु॒तम् । स॒मान॒ मन्ने॑नाप्यायस्व ॥ 70.

śraddhāyā-mprāṇe nivi॑śyā-'mṛtagṃ hutam |With faith/sincerity I had offered this nectar (food) to prana

prāṇa mannenāpyāyasva | May my prana be strengthened (grow) with this food

śraddhāyāmapā॒ne niviśyā॒-'mṛtagṃ hutam | With faith/sincerity I had offered this nectar (food) to apana

apāna mannenāpyāyasva |May my apana be strengthened (grow) with this food

śraddhāyāṃ-vyāne niviśyā-'mṛtagṃ hutam | With faith/sincerity I had offered this nectar (food) to vyana

vyāna mannenāpyāyasva |May my vyana be strengthened (grow) with this food

śraddhāyā-mudāne niviśyā॒'mṛtagṃ hutam | With faith/sincerity I had offered this nectar (food) to udana

udāna mannenāpyāyasva |May my udana be strengthened (grow) with this food

śraddhāyāgṃ samāne nivi॑śyā-'mṛtagṃ hutam |With faith/sincerity I had offered this nectar (food) to samana

 samāna mannenāpyāyasva ||May my samana be strengthened (grow) with this food

Remembering the Lord after eating

अङ्गुष्ठमात्रः पुरुषोऽङ्गुष्ठं च समाश्रितः । ईशः सर्वस्य जगतः प्रभुः प्रीणातु विश्वभुक् ॥ १॥

aṅguṣṭhamātraḥ puruṣō-'ṅguṣṭhañcha̍ samā̠śritaḥ । īśa-ssarvasya jagataḥ prabhuḥ prīṇāti̍ viśva̠bhuk|

May the supreme Lord, who resides in this body of  the size of the thumb but permeating the entire body be satisfied with this food. He is all pervading, the Lord, the enjoyer of the whole universe, may He be pleased

Have a good lunch, a nice dinner!