11 Mar 2025
[Smt. Anita R asked:- Paada Namaskaram Swamiji. Guru Datta Sri Datta Prabhu Datta. Swamiji, I have some questions regarding Grihapravesham or House warming ceremony. This involves some traditions and customs along with some wastage of food items. You said that food shall not be wasted strictly according to the Veda. The following pujas are performed to worship the Gods and Goddesses:-
i) Before entering the house, for the worship of Gadapa (threshold below the main door), breaking of coconuts and a pumpkin is necessary at the entrance. But, they are thrown out the very next day.
ii) Milk is boiled till it is flown out of the vessel. Some milk should be left flowing and it goes waste only.
iii) Then, Navagraha puja is performed with different grains and pulses.
iv) Next comes Homam or Sri Satyanarayana Swami’s Puja. In this worship too, lighting of lamps is compulsory. Either ghee or oil is burnt in the Homam.
The above traditions are contradicting the true spiritual knowledge preached by You. Please guide me.]
Swami replied:- You have to follow the ignorance of others until all are uplifted. You can preach them about the genuine points of the concepts. Unless theory is perfectly established, practice cannot start and flourish. You can follow the true spiritual knowledge in the above points if your people agree and support you. Functions shall be performed in a brief way with the least minimum crowd as far as possible. If you satisfy the hungry stomachs of poor beggars as many as possible in such functions, God will be very much pleased with you. It is better to give the special food items to beggars, who will be very much pleased with them since they do not eat such items frequently as rich people do. The rich people eat a little from the special food items and throw the rest into the plate that goes to the dustbin finally. The same rich people will be born as beggars in the next birth and search for such food items in the dustbins that were similarly thrown by them in their previous birth!
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