 | Prasad: Encyclopedia - Prasad
Prasad
Prasãd (Hindi) or prasãda (Sanskrit)or Prasadam is both a mental condition of generosity, as well as a material substance that is first offered to a deity and then consumed with the faith that the deity's blessing resides within it. In contemporary Hindu religious practice in India, the desire to get prasada and have darshan (cross referenced) are the two major motivations of pilgrimage and temple visits.
As a mental condition, prasãda has a rich history of meanings in the Sanskrit tradition from Vedic literature onwards. In this textual tradition, prasada is a mental state experienced by gods, sages, and other powerful beings which is marked by spontaneous generosity and the bestowing of boons. Prasãda is understood in this sense of a mental state from the earliest literature (Rig Veda) onwards—not as an aspect of ritual practice. In later texts such as the Shiva Purãna, references to prasada as a material substance begins to appear alongside this older meaning.
In its material sense, prasada is created by a process of giving and receiving between a human devotee and the divine. For example, a devotee makes an offering of a material substance such as flowers, fruits, or sweets -- which is called 'naivedya'. The deity then 'enjoys' or tastes a bit of the offering, which is then temporarily known as 'bhogya'. This now-divinely invested substance is called 'prasãda", and is received by the devotee to be ingested, worn, etc. It may be the same material that was originally offered, or material offered by others and then re-distributed to other devotees.
As a 'leftover substance', prasada is special because it is understood as being invested with divine grace or blessing. This is in stark contrast to the status of any leftover portions of ordinary foods as they are considered ritually impure (jutha). According to orthodox Hindu religious practice, a wife might eat the food tasted by her husband, but generally food is never shared from the same plate as among members of other South Asian religious communities, such as Muslims. Therefore, when a material substance is leftover by a god, it is not thought of as being 'impure' (jutha), but as full of divine blessing (prasãda) and karmically beneficial to its recipient. The offering and distribution of prasãda is particularly central to the (Vaishnava) sectarian tradition, but is also central for members of other Hindu sectarian communities, such as the Shaktas.
Category: Hindu traditions
| Shruti (primary scriptures): |
Vedas | Upanishads | Bhagavad Gita | Itihasa (Ramayana & Mahabharata) | Agamas |
| Smriti (other texts): |
Tantras | Sutras | Puranas | Brahma Sutras | Hatha Yoga Pradipika | Smritis | Tirukural | Yoga Sutra |
| Concepts: |
Avatar | Brahman | Kosas | Dharma | Karma | Moksha | Maya | Ishta-Deva | Murti | Reincarnation | Samsara | Trimurti | Turiya | Guru-shishya tradition |
| Schools & systems: |
Schools of Hinduism | Early Hinduism | Samkhya | Nyaya | Vaisheshika | Yoga | Mimamsa | Vedanta | Tantra | Bhakti | Carvakas |
| Traditional practices: |
Jyotish | Ayurveda |
| Rituals: |
Aarti | Bhajans | Darshan | Diksha | Mantras | Puja | Satsang | Stotras | Wedding | Yajna |
| Gurus and saints: |
Shankara | Ramanuja | Madhvacharya | Madhavacharya | Ramakrishna | Vivekananda | Sree Narayana Guru | Aurobindo | Ramana Maharshi | Sivananda | Chinmayananda | Sivaya Subramuniyaswami | Swaminarayan | A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada |
| Denominations: |
Vaishnavism | Shaivism | Shaktism | Smartism | Agama Hindu Dharma | Contemporary Hindu movements | Survey of Hindu organisations |
| Hindu deities: |
List of Hindu deities | Hindu mythology |
| Yugas: |
Satya Yuga | Treta Yuga | Dwapar Yuga | Kali Yuga |
| Castes: |
Brahmin | Kshatriya | Vaishya | Shudra |
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Prasad", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
