Serving Prasadam

Ideally prasädam should be served by devotees.

Ensure that preparations meant to be served hot are actually hot (it is not recommended to reheat after having become cold) and that all preparations to be served are either present or will arrive for serving at the proper time.

The server or the serving utensils should not touch the plates or hands of those who are eating, for this will contaminate the server and serving utensil. If this happens accidentally, wash your hands and the contaminated vessel before continuing to serve the prasädam.

• Do not touch anything impure (your mouth, feet, hair or lower part of the body) while serving prasädam.
• Do not yawn, sneeze or spit.
• Be careful that the serving vessels do not touch anyone's feet.
• Do not drag the serving vessels along the floor. Do not make clanging noises with pot handles or utensils.
• While serving, be cautious that you do not mix salty preparations with sweet preparations.
• Use only your right hand to serve prasädam.

One should be generous in giving the devotees as much of an item as they desire. One should not be miserly and hold anything back for themselves.

Everyone in a group should be offered the same items. When a group of devotees take prasädam together, no one should be offered anything that is not offered to everyone else. The devotee who is serving prasädam should not make any distinction while serving. If possible, those with special diet should eat separately.

It is very good that now all the devotees can take Prasadam together. All the devotees must keep together, that will be an extra strength. [Letter to: Umapati, Los Angeles, April 26, 1970]

We should never waste Krishna prasadam. Best thing is to cook only what is required and then give each person what he wants. That is the Vedic system; that the people sit in rows behind their plates and servers pass down the rows and put a very small portion of each foodstuff on each plate, unless there is some objection by a person then nothing is given. Then if anyone wants more, the servers pass up and down the rows continually and give more if anyone requests. In this way nothing is wasted and everyone is satisfied. [Letter to: Kirtiraja, Vrindavan, November 27, 1971]

After everyone has finished honoring prasädam, clean the place immediately.

One thing is that you should keep everything very clean. That is the first business. Every room should be as clean as a mirror. The prasadam room should be immediately cleaned after taking prasadam, otherwise you are inviting rats. Be careful. [Letter to: Mukunda, Bombay, October 20, 1973]

For dishes, best thing is everyone who is eating Prasadam should wash his plate. Otherwise, one man has to do so many dishes. So even the guests should also wash their dishes, that is the system in the Temple; not leave one man to do it. [Letter to: Aniruddha, San Francisco, April 9, 1968]