Feed the hungry to reach God.
There is this adage that, “Charity of food to the poor is the best charity there is” in my part of the world. The depth of the adage never struck me until I had a chance re-reading of a shloka from Bhagavad Gita 15.14.
ahaḿ vaiśvānaro bhūtvā
prāṇināḿ deham āśritaḥ
prāṇāpāna-samāyuktaḥ
pacāmy annaḿ catur-vidham
It translates to, I am the fire of digestion in the bodies of all living entities, and I join with the air of life, outgoing and incoming, to digest the four kinds of foodstuff. (You may like to read here: https://www.bhagavad-gita.us/bhagavad-gita-15-14/)
The thoughts of the recent Ganapathi homa rituals at my home came to me. The offering to fire was in turn to the very God itself. The offering to fire was at a particular interval and whenever it was overfed, it started bellowing smoke and fire did not engulf and consume the offering.
That Hunger, That fire which is gnawing in your stomach is the source of life and the very existence of God. It made me realize then that, the food we eat for ourselves is tantamount to the food we offer to The God.
No where then is the life/God more pronounced than the hungry stomach of the poor, animals and any hungry life form. Satiating the hunger of the poor then, is the way of directly reaching God. “Charity of food to the poor is the best charity there is”. Indeed.
VMB
