The ‘Prasad’

A man named Chintamani Bhat lived in Karnataka. He was a Brahmin by caste, an authority on ten scriptures (Dasha-Granthi) and would officiate at religious rituals as a priest.

Chintamani suffered from a terrible illness. Anytime he would eat something, a horrendous pain would erupt from his stomach. At times it would be so unbearable that he felt that he would die and would eventually pass out. To get himself treated he had traveled to far off places and met many physicians but no medicine could cure him of his strange ailment. He lived on only milk, that too, just once a day.

One fine day he happened to learn about Shri Maharaj from an acquaintance of his. He thought to himself that maybe this holy man, this saint, could relieve him of this suffering. He at once decided to leave for Gondavle, where he would find Shri Maharaj. The journey from his town to Gondavle took many days, but he finally reached there at around two in the afternoon.

It is usually a practice that some offering is made to Lord Ramachandra everyday and sometimes, the same food is offered as a meal to all his devotees provided it is made in such quantities. This is known as ‘Prasad’ .On that afternoon; someone had offered huge quantities of food to Lord Ramachandra which was to be distributed to the devotees. This had caused some delay in lunch being served.

As always, Shri Maharaj was supervising the seating arrangements for such a large number of people. This was when Chintamani approached him and introduced himself. Shri Maharaj invited him to sit beside him during lunch and mentioned that Chintamani was indeed fortunate to have come just in time for lunch. Chintamani said that food was like poison to him. When Shri Maharaj enquired further, he went on to explain the nature of his illness and the reason for his visit to Gondavle to meet Shri Maharaj.

Shri Maharaj explained to him that any food that had been offered to Lord Ramachandra, and then eaten, was to be considered as remnants of his plate. Any remnants from God’s plate were full of spiritual potency and hence, it would be advisable if Chintamani ate the ‘Prasad’ without worrying about the punishment his stomach would met out later.

At first, Chintamani was reluctant. But seeing everyone relish the delicacies and the assurance from Shri Maharaj and his faith in Lord Ramachandras’ Prasad, he decided that what would happen after having what the Lord desired would be what the Lord desires. He then ate to his hearts content, for he had not eaten a proper meal in many years. After lunch, he began expecting the stomach pains to begin. But they never came that day. In fact, he never had stomach pains for the rest of his life.