Meaning of Harir Daata
Harir Daata Harir Bhokta Harir Annam Prajaapatih
Harrir Vipra Shareerastu Bhunkte Bhojayate Harih
Hari, the Lord of all beings, is the giver, the enjoyer and the food itself.
The body of the partaker is Hari, Hari is the one who eats and also the one who feeds.
When we offer food to the Lord before partaking of it, it is blessed and becomes free of any impurities. Food is a Gift of God. We must eat in a prayerful mood with a sense of gratitude. Food is the spark that kindles the flame of life. We must respect food. We must not waste it. We must take only as much as we need. The leftovers may be fed to the birds and animals.
It is the Lord residing in our bodies, who receives the food. So we must observe three types of cleanliness in regard to food.
Padaartha Shuddhi: The food items used for cooking must be clean.
Paaka Shuuddhi: The person cooking the food must be physically and mentally clean.
Paatra Shuddhi: We must use clean vessels for cooking and eating. We must eat in clean surroundings.
The Hindu belief is that food when offered to God and then taken as consecrated by His acceptance, is activated by DIVINE Energy and is freed from all the evil influences that might adhere to it.
According to Indian seers the source of the food one consumes, the power that sustains all living beings and the basis of all objects in creation is God. It is because this basic truth is forgotten that the world today is bedeviled by famine, conflicts, wars and commotion.
Can man create the land on which food is grown? Can we produce water? Can we create wood in which fire is latent? All these can be created only by God and are beyond the power of man.
If we make an offering of food to God, all evil influences will get destroyed and it turns into Prasad, which will nourish physically, morally and spiritually also.