Why You Should Wash Your Hand After Touching Cooked Rice

The second sloka of Srimad Bhagawata:

What is to be achieved?
Bhagawan, his presence with you, in you, around you, always.

How do you do that?
Through leading a virtuous life and through knowledge about him.

People think knowledge or jnana is the aim of spirituality. No, that’s where it begins. That is the starting point. Even getting his presence is not the ultimate goal. Merging into him, becoming him, is the ultimate goal.

All these are possible through Bhagawata. Bhagawata will teach you how to lead a virtuous life, gain knowledge about Bhagawan, bring his presence, and also enable you to merge into him. The method of Bhagawata is simple.

Let’s see the difference between the method of Bhagawata and the other spiritual methods, spiritual paths. Bhagawata stands apart from the others.

What is dharma? Dharma is do’s and don’ts about how to live a virtuous life. They are based on Vedas, principles of Veda. But Vedas are grossly misinterpreted by so-called scholars because, as the earlier shloka says, muhyanti yat soorayaha. Even scholars are confused when it comes to Vedas, Vedic principles; each one comes out with his own interpretation.

Then there are Acharas, mostly based on Puranas. Acharas are based on the concept of purity and impurity. Welcome purity, avoid impurity. But purity and impurity—this is also highly subjective. They are meant to set you out on the path of dharma. But people get so obsessed with them that they forget their original intent. They just mechanically follow, and then it becomes a burden.

For example, in South India, in traditional families, there is this achara: if you touch cooked rice before touching anything else, particularly any other kind of food, you have to touch water. Touching water stands for washing your hand. This achara has degraded to such an extent that people think that cooked rice is impure. If you touch it, then you have to wash your hands.

What was the original intention?
Annam brahmeti vyajanat—annam is Brahman. It is divine. If you touch it, then that divinity transmits into your hand also. With that hand, you should not touch anything that is impure or purely worldly, say pickles. Pickles are only meant for exciting your taste buds, to pamper you, pushing you into more of worldliness. There is nothing divine about pickles.

The original intent was this: to differentiate between what is divine and what is just worldly. Whenever you see cooked rice or anything that can be called annam—there are many things that can be called annam, not just cooked rice—annam brahmeti vyajanat should come to your mind. That purity is where I have to go to God. These pickles, these delicacies, are going to hold me back. What is going to hold you back is impure. Let the goodness of annam not get lost in the purely worldly pickles.

This was the original intention. Generating this awareness, this constant awareness, through everyday activities, was the original intention. But see where it ended up—thinking that cooked rice is impure. This is the problem with Acharas. Unless someone with clarity of thought tells you what is behind them, they only confuse.

The problem is not with Veda or Purana. The problem is with us, our ignorance. Those days, there were people whom you could ask—what is behind this tradition. Now they are rare to find. If at all you find explanations, they are absurd, so-called scientific explanations:

• Wearing thilaka will stimulate the pituitary gland.
• Wrapping the yajnopaveet around the ear while attending nature's call will stimulate a nerve behind the ear.
• Darbh grass will act as a shield against cosmic rays during an eclipse.

Such stupid explanations!

People adhere to vratas, such as honesty—never to utter a lie. It is good, no doubt. But can it be really practiced? If you really want to practice truth, Veda says you should speak only what you have seen with your own eyes. What you hear with your ears, you can’t be sure; what you read, you can't be sure. Today, what you communicate is, at maximum, somebody else's view or opinion. Even if you are not voting for it, you are using reported speech. Still, untruth may be coming out of your mouth.

So, truthfulness and all are difficult to practice. Then tapas such as fasting. Ninety-nine percent of those who do fasting are cheating themselves.

In Ekadashi vrata, once you have lunch on Dashami, then the next meal that you can have is the parana on Dwadashi, and that is the single meal allowed on Dwadashi. You have to stay awake throughout the night of Ekadashi with constant Bhagawat Smaranam. How many are doing it this way? And they go around boasting about it and cheating themselves with the falsehood—look, I am great, I am doing Ekadashi vrata.

Falsehood has crept into these. That is why they don’t yield results like before. Compared to this, listening to Bhagawan's greatness—in that, there is no such possibility.

We will continue to see more about this.

Knowledge Bank

What is Agastya Samhita?

Agastya Samhita is teachings for moksha given by Agastya Maharshi to Rishi Sutheekshna. This book belongs to Tantra-shastra and Dharma-shastra. Mantra, yantra, mudra, nyasa, puja, havan, purascharana, etc. of Lord Rama are given in this book along with mantras of Lakshmana and Hanuman. The yoga marga is also given in this book in a very simple manner.