Food, clothing and shelter are the three basic requirements of a man. The first out of the three is essential for survival. Food gives us nourishment and energy, which maintain its activities. Man has recognized its importance and has been comparing it with god since ancient times. Different traditions prevail in the society with respect to consumption of pure and energetic food. Special traditions with respect to intake of pure and nutritious food are prevalent in the human society. Following these traditions provides spiritual and mental satisfaction to the human beings and also proves correct on the scientific platform. It includes the cooking of food and offering it to favourite god along with basil leaf and talks about the purest and enriching form of food.

It talks about purification of body along with internal purification before cooking food. The first impact is on our mouth, it creates saliva, which is useful for digesting our food. The action done in between the arrival of food in front of us and its consumption, like offering food to god, chanting mantras, giving Achaman of water takes roughly two to five minutes and this much time is required for formation of saliva in our mouth. The food is easily digested with its help.

The man accepts the food as his god’s prasad and hence it tastes delicious and energetic. Mantra is chanted before consuming food and a circle of water is made on all sides of the plate. This prevents the approach of small insects and bacteria near the food as water is the element of cleanliness.

Cleanliness and purity of food should be given attention in order to maintain good health. Food should be cooked in good environment free of insects and bacteria. This is the reason that food is always cooked in clean place. The man remembers his favourite god before eating food, the food is first offered to him and then eaten as god’s prasad. The food is cooked fresh to offer to god. Therefore food is pure and fresh. Science says that food should be pure and fresh to make it energetic and nutritious. There is scientific reason behind washing hands and feet before eating food. When we wash hands, the food remains pure and when legs are wet, it activates the digestion process. The controlling points of the body lie on hands and legs, which is clear from acupressure.

You must have heard about mouth watering food, the expression can be aptly related to our food traditions. When we see and smell good food, ourdigestion process begins functioning, which is helpful for digesting the food. Proper and complete digestion of food gives complete benefit, which helps in development and nourishment of the body. The traditions prevailing from ancient times have scientific base and prove to be beneficial in the development of the body.

Now you can listen to the ancient sanskrit chants of Bhagavad Gita, sung in classical melodies by noted devotional singer Sri Vidyabhushana. Listen to all 700 verses of the Gita with a beautiful accompaniment of flute, veena, sitar, mridanga, tabla and tala. (Scroll down to listen to it online.)

Set includes 10 audio CDs (7 CDs of sanskrit chants, 2 CDs containing english translations for the entire Bhagavad Gita, and 1 CD providing an introductory lecture on the Bhagavad Gita by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada).