Home Altar, Offerings

I would like to know what to do with food & flowering offerings made to Krishna at my home altar. I know that flowers should be removed when they begin to wilt, but do I just throw them away? And how long should food items be left at the altar? And how are they to be disposed of?
Thank you!
Avril

HAre Krsna
Jaya Prabhupada

The prasadam should be honored, or eaten.

The flowers should be distributed. that is the easiest way. give the flowers to a living entity as food.

ys
srimukunda dasa

Hare Krishna,

Foodstuffs should be left on the altar just long enough for Lord Krishna's pleasure - 15 mins or so. Then you thank Him for His mercy and honor the prasadam and when possible distribute it to others so that they also received the Lord's mercy (this also includes other living beings besides those in human form).

I take the flowers and put them outside for the little living entity's pleasure (as Sri Mukunda prabhu has also suggested). If you have garlands you can hang them in trees.

I save up some of the flowers in bags and when I go some place like a lake or river I let them go in the water so they get carried off long distances to reach living beings that are not near where I live. I do this also on windy days here.

Prasadam ki jai!!!

Rukmini-Devi dasi

Hare Krsna, newbie!
Please accept my humble obeisances!

It is so nice to hear that you took up this Krsna consciousness. You are a very rare soul and You have all my respect. Please feel free to drop by on this forum and discuss whatever possible difficulties or simply transcendental realizations you might have. It's all very pleasureable.
Actually it is an offense to throw prasadam (flowers, or foodstuff, or anything offered to Krsna) in the garbage, so we should be extra careful about that. But there are cases when simply there's no animal to give it to, or the prasadam is not eatable anymore for some reason, or you have flowers. So the best way is to put such a prasadam at the root of a tree or as Rukmini said throw it in the river for the benefit of other beings. I don't actually percieve it now, but prasadam is non-different from Krsna.
keep on chanting Hare Krsna

Thank you all for your helpful answers. I wasn't sure what to do. Now I will be much more considerate in sharing Krishna's mercy. I would never want to disrespect Krishna, but I hadn't even thought that dying flowers could spread his love.
Thank you.
Humbly,
Avril

Please Accept my humble obeisances.

All Glories to Srila Pranhupada!


Dear devotees,

I have another question here about setting up an Altar.
What is actually a standard way to install a simple Altar? I've heared that one who is not initiated should worship a picture of Panca-Tattva, picture of Lord Nrshimhadev and a picture of Srila Prabhupada. Also one should put pictures of Acaryas from the Parampara line. In which order do you put those pictures and is there need to put them on different levels?

Thanks for your help.

Hare Krishna!

All Glories to The Divine Soul Srila Prabhupada!

Setting Up Your Altar

You'll likely find that japa and kirtana are more effective when done before an altar. Lord Krishna and His pure devotees are so kind that they allow us to worship them even through their pictures. It's something like mailing a letter: You can't mail a letter by placing it in just any box; you must use the mailbox authorized by the government. Similarly, we cannot imagine a picture of God and worship that, but we can worship the authorized picture of God, and Krishna accepts our worship through that picture.

Setting up an altar at home means receiving the Lord and His pure devotees as your most honored guests. Where should you set up the altar? Well, how would you seat a guest? An ideal place would be clean, well lit, and free from drafts and household disturbances. Your guest, of course, would need a comfortable chair, but for the picture of Krishna's form a wall shelf, a mantelpiece, a corner table, or the top shelf of a bookcase will do. You wouldn't seat a guest in your home and then ignore him; you'd provide a place for yourself to sit, too, where you could comfortably face him and enjoy his company. So don't make your altar inaccessible.

What do you need to set up your altar? Here are the essentials:

A picture of Srila Prabhupada.
A picture of Lord Chaitanya and His associates. (Pancha-Tattva)
A picture of Sri Sri Radha-Krishna.
In addition, you may want:

an altar cloth,
water cups (one for each picture),
candles with holders,
a special plate for offering food,
a small bell, incense,
an incense holder,
and fresh flowers, which you may offer in vases or simply place before each picture.
The first person we worship on the altar is the spiritual master. The spiritual master is not God. Only God is God. But because the spiritual master is His dearmost servant, God has empowered him, and therefore he deserves the same respect as that given to God. He links the disciple with God and teaches him the process of bhakti yoga. He is God's ambassador to the material world. When a president sends an ambassador to a foreign country, the ambassador receives the same respect as that accorded the president, and the ambassador's words are as authoritative as the president's. Similarly, we should respect the spiritual master as we would God, and revere his words as we would His.

Everyone who takes up the process of bhakti-yoga as a result of coming in contact with the Hare Krishna movement owes an immense debt of gratitude to Srila Prabhupada. Before Srila Prabhupada left India in 1965 to spread Krishna consciousness abroad, almost no one outside India knew anything about the practice of pure devotional service to Lord Krishna. Therefore, everyone who has learned of the process through his books, his Back to Godhead magazine, his tapes, or contact with his followers should offer respect to Srila Prabhupada. As the founder and spiritual guide of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, he is the instructing guru of us all. By reading his books, following the regulative principles, chanting the prescribed number of rounds, and following his instructions we can be a loyal disciple.

The second picture on your altar should be one of the Pancha-Tattva (Lord Caitanya and His four leading associates). Lord Caitanya is the incarnation of God for this age. He is Krishna Himself, descended in the form of His own devotee to teach us how to surrender to Him, specifically by chanting His holy names and performing other activities of bhakti-yoga. Lord Caitanya is the most merciful incarnation, for He makes it easy for anyone to attain love of God through the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha mantra.

And of course your altar should have a picture of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna with His eternal consort, Srimati Radharani. Srimati Radharani is Krishna's internal potency. She is devotional service personified, and devotees always take shelter of Her to learn how to serve Krishna.

You can arrange the pictures in a triangle, with the picture of Srila Prabhupada on the left, the picture of Lord Chaitanya and His associates on the right, and the picture of Radha and Krishna (slightly larger than the others, if possible) on a small raised platform behind and in the center. Or you can hang the picture of Radha and Krishna on the wall above the altar.

Carefully clean the altar each morning. Cleanliness is essential in Deity worship. Remember, you wouldn't neglect to clean the room of an important guest, and when you establish an altar you invite Krishna and His pure devotees to reside as the most exalted guests in your home. If you have water cups, rinse them out and fill them with fresh water daily. Then place them conveniently close to the pictures. You should remove flowers in vases as soon as they're slightly wilted, or daily if you've offered them at the base of the pictures. You should offer fresh incense at least once a day, and, if possible, light candles and place them near the pictures when you're chanting before the altar.

Please try the things we've suggested so far. It's very simple, really: If you try to love God, you'll gradually realize how much He loves you. That's the essence of bhakti-yoga.

I hope that helps.

I updated my Site http://becoming-perfect.blogspot.com/ I comment on this site and the nice article on book changes.

Hare Krishna!

Hare Krsna!
Thanks Haribol for your nice assistance. However I would like to point out that there is a misinformation going around and I became a victim myself until I found out that Srila Prabhupada never authorized uninitiated devotees to worship Radha-Krsna pictures. Please can you tell me what source did you take this info from?
As far as I'm concerned for uninitiated devotee simply picture of Panca tattva and of the Guru is sufficient. Moreover, if a devotee does not follow the four regs, Radha Krsna will not accept his offerings. I will supply relevant quotes if needed.

hare krishna!

Yes, uninitiated devotee simply picture of Panca tattva and of the Guru is sufficient. I can remember Prabhupada saying that Radha Krishna picture was ok also, but I cant seem to find it, maybe he was talking about initiated devotees. Anyways just the picture of Panca tattva and of the Guru and Lord Nrshimhadev is great.

Even thought rules are rules, if you are very sincere and are advancing you will know in your heart if you can or cannot do such things. Krishna will grant a sincere devotee more and more access to better his perfection.

Hare Krishna.

Hare Krishna!

Thank you for your relies.

As I understood one should not wordhip Radha and Krishna picture if he is not initiated.
Now, my question is how should I put the pictures of Srila Pranhupada and Panca-Tattva(in which order). I would like also to put the pictures of the acaryas in the disciplic line and Lord Nrshimhadev. Do I need to put 1)Srila Prabhupada and Panca Tattva, 2) THe acaryas in the disciplic line and 3)Lord Nrshimhadev on the same level, or I should put 1, 2 and 3 separately?

sergei

How to set up a Hare Krishna altar at home


Worship of Radha and Krishna is no cheap thing. It cannot be done whimsically, but it must be very carefully executed under strict regulation. Not that there can be LSD taking and all sinful activities, and then Deity worship. I have made it a point that unless one is able to keep to the same standard that is kept here at the temple, he should not worship the Deity separately. Best thing is to keep a Guru-Gauranga altar at home and take part in the Deity worship program at the temple.

Letter to: Caitanya
--
Los Angeles
25 April, 1973
73-04-25

In these two quotes Srila Prabhupada warns us not to take to the Deity worship whimsically. It is a serious matter and it needs to be executed according to strict rules and regulations. One of the conditions for worshipping a Deity (whether Radha Krsna Deity or Nitai Gauranga Deity) at the present moment is that a person must be second- initiated(must undergo a Gayatri initiation) under the rtvik system set up by Srila Prabhupada. This is evident from Srila Prabhupada's letter to Yamuna Devi Dasi from 1970:

Regarding an assistant Pujari, Ilavati may be trained to assist you, but she may not conduct Arcana without being dvija. The system is that only one who is qualified with Gayatri initiation may directly worship the Deities (i.e. bathing, offering bhoga and aratrik, cooking for the Deities, etc.). But she may assist you by helping in all other respects. If for some reason you are unable to perform aratrik, there are other devotees, initiated brahmanas, who can make the offerings there.

Letter to: Yamuna
--
Los Angeles
2 March, 1970
70-03-02


Does that mean that people who are not yet up to this standard are barred from worshipping Krsna and making offering for Him? No. And that is why everyone and anyone can worship Him on his home altar in a picture form.


The basic altar consists of picture of 1.Panca Tattva, 2.Srila Prabhupada, 3.the Sampradaya acaryas(positioned from left to right starting with the most recent ones such as Srila Prabhupada)and a picture of Lord Nrshimhadeva. The pictures of these personalities can be placed on a cupboard, table, shelf, or practically anything which you will be able to put your offerings on. The altar should be very clean and you should be able to clean it with a wet cloth. The altar cannot be used for anything else, but for the offerings, so make sure you can sacrifice it for Krsna for good. In the material(relative) world, the picture of a person and a person himself are two different things, however that is not the case with the Lord who is of an absolute nature. As such Krsna, as well as spiritual master Srila Prabhupada, is non-different from His picture. We should keep this in mind when we worship Them on the altar. The altar is an essential inspiration in Hare Krsna mahamantra mediation. One can offer an incense, a candle, on the altar or decorate flower and in this way a transcendental atmoshpere is evoked.

Hare Krishna!

Like some people my altar at home has a picture of Sri Narasimhadeva, Sri Pancha Tattva, and Sri Guru. Where is the instruction to have these three pictures on our altar? I want to know just incase someone asks me why I do not have Sri Sri Radha-Krishna instead.

Thanks.

Hare Krsna, dear ceturne.

So far we know Prabhupada advised uninitiated and even first initiated disciples to worship Guru Gauranga altar. Is there any instruction to worship Radha Krishna in a premature stage? Panca Tattva automatically includes Radha Krsna so there's no need to worry. Here are quotes:


As far as staying in some boys apartment, this is permissable if everyone in the house agrees to follow the principles while you are there. That is no smoking, no drinking, etc. You may also install a small altar there with a picture of Guru and Gauranga and the Spiritual Masters there and perform mangala arati every morning and hold classes etc. Under these circumstances you can live in others apartments.

Melbourne, 10 February, 1973


Best thing is to keep a Guru-Gauranga altar at home and take part in the Deity worship program at the temple.

Letter to: Caitanya
--
Los Angeles
25 April, 1973
73-04-25