Offering Food to Lord Krishna with Love and Devotion

1: Why should we offer foodstuffs to Lord Krishna?
..because otherwise, eating is stealing.
yajna-sistasinah santo: mucyante sarva-kilbisaih
bhunjate te tv agham papa: ye pacanty atma-karanat
"The devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food which is offered first for sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin."
Lord Krishna speaking Bhagavad Gita 3.13

Therefore Lord Krishna advises Arjuna:

yat karosi yad asnasi: yaj juhosi dadasi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya: tat kurusva mad-arpanam
"Oh son of Kunti, all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, should be done as an offering unto me."
Lord Krishna speaking Bhagavad Gita 9.27

2: How to make an offering simply by chanting Hare Krishna...

"Foodstuffs can be offered at any place but with devotion and formalities."........Srila Prabhupada letter to Madhusudana, 1st February, 1968

The prepared foodstuffs should be placed on a plate kept especially for the Deities and placed before them. The offering should then be made as detailed below while ringing a bell:

"For the time being, if Arundhati wants to offer prasadam, the Hare Krishna mantra will do." Srila Prabhupada letter to Pradyumna, 4th July 1969

Here Srila Prabhupada says that simply by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra with devotion in front of the Deities, the foodstuff can be offered.

3: The Next Step - Making a Formal Offering

Offering to Lord Krishna through the disciplic succession.

"Regarding offering food: the custom is to offer the foodstuff first to the spiritual master; we cannot do anything directly. The spiritual master accepts the offering on behalf of his disciple and offers the same to Krishna. After Krishna's eating, the spiritual master eats it, and then the devotees take it as maha-prasada. This is the system. Everything is offered to the spiritual master first, with the prayer: Nama om visnu-padaya...."
.......Srila Prabhupada letter to Jadurani, 15th February 1968

Srila Prabhupada says it is better to offer the food to the spiritual master, who then offers it to his spiritual master and so on up to Lord Krishna. If you do not have a spiritual master, you can place a picture of Srila Prabhupada on your altar and offer the food first to him to offer to the Lord.


"Yes, you may say the prayer to the spiritual master three times and also the Namo brahmanya... prayer three times when offering prasada. That is very nice, to say the mantra three times. Also, you may, after offering to the spiritual master, offer to Lord Chaitanya by saying the prayer: Namo maha-vadanyaya.... three times and then offer to Krishna thrice."
.........Srila Prabhupada letter to Balai, 22nd March 1968


Here are the mantras in full with translations: A bell should be rung while chanting. Each mantra should be chanted three times

nama om vishnu-padaya, krishna-presthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-swamin iti namine Translation: I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is very dear to Lord Krishna, having taken shelter at his lotus feet.

namas te sarasvati deve gaura-vani-pracarine
nirvisesa-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine
Translation: Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Saraswati Goswami. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Chaitanyadeva and delivering the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism.

namo maha-vadanyaya krishna-prema-pradaya te
krishnaya krishna-chaitanya-namne gaura-tvise namah
Translation: O most munificent incarnation! You are Krishna Himself appearing as Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. You have assumed the golden colour of Srimati Radharani, and You are widely distributing pure love of Krishna. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You.

namo brahmanya-devaya go-brahmana-hitaya ca
jagat-hitaya krishnaya govindaya namonamah
Translation: I offer my respectful obeisances to the Supreme Absolute Truth, Krishna, Who is the well-wisher of the cows and the brahmanas as well as the living entities in general. I offer my repeated obeisances to Govinda, who is the resevoir of pleasure for all the senses.

4: The Secret of a Successful Offering: Devotion

"Regarding prasadam, Krishna does not accept any foodstuff offered by a person who is not a devotee. In the Bhagavad-gita it is stated: patram puspam phalam toyam, yo me bhakta prayacchati (9.26). So the importance is stressed on the bhakti, the devotion. Krishna does not accept anything unless one is a pure devotee of Krishna. How to become a pure devotee of Krishna, you have to chant Hare Krishna and follow the four regulative principles of no meat eating, intoxication, illicit sex, or gambling, and you have to follow a guru who is expert in the science of devotional service. If you are serious about understanding Krishna consciousness, you can live with us for some time in one of our centres with your father's permission and learn the science and do the needful."
..........Srila Prabhupada letter to Fredrico Lourenco, 14th October, 1974