Questions And Answers: Sādhanā / Diet

How much prasādam must a devotee take ?
Questioner: Anonymous
Date: 2022-07-29
This is more of a common-sense question.
It’s like Rūpa Gosvāmī’s atyāhāraḥ prayāsaś ca.
That we don’t want to overeat.
So, where is the standard of how much one should eat?
The scripture doesn’t say that one should eat 1.274 pounds per man, you know, or 27% of the body weight,
you know, for lunch and 15% for breakfast and it doesn’t give any… It says one shouldn’t eat more, one shouldn’t eat less.
And Śrīla Prabhupāda said that… The actual thing is that as much as one can work, he should eat.
If you eat a lot, then you should work more, you see.
If you eat as much as... If you work as much as you are eating, then there is, then there is no difficulty.
Category: [Sādhanā / Diet]
My family is not allowing me to leave onion and garlic. What should I do?
Questioner: Devotee
Date: 2023-08-16
Jayapatākā Swami: Breathe on them!
In Google there is a whole article on onion and garlic,
how detrimental it is.
How by taking it one can get all kinds of bad qualities
That is Google.
But also, in the Purāṇas it says that onion and garlic came from the dead carcass of the cow.
By taking onion and garlic one gets the karma of killing cows.
I don’t know which your parents will be more influenced by, the Purāṇas or Google?
Science or theology?
But either way, onion and garlic are very bad.
People invite we don’t know what they are eating or not, but even if they cook vegetarian food, we are not allowed to eat as initiated devotees?
Questioner: Devotee
Date: 2023-09-01
Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīla Prabhupāda would go to some peoples’ house if they became a life member,
and he would tell them what standards to cook for him like no onion garlic,
but those things we always got sick very often.
But Śrīla Prabhupāda, he was an ideal guest.
One time they told Śrīla Prabhupāda here they have put onions,
but he took the onions out and did not eat the onions,
but did not say anything.
He did not want to offend the people.
So how you do the things, you have to use some discretion.
I know that some businessmen, they have to take their clients out to wine and dine, at least dine.
So here they just eat the salad,
but the guests may eat all kinds of nonsense.
That is the downside of marketing.
What is your take on veganism?
Questioner: Kackuly Rani
Date: 2022-10-13
Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīla Prabhupāda has said that 
taking cow milk develops the finer intelligence 
will be able to understand Kṛṣṇa consciousness. 
At the same time, we like to protect the cows. 
And so, where possible we try to eat milk from protected cows. 
The vegans, they say since the cows are mistreated, 
better not to take any milk. 
But Śrīla Prabhupāda knew that this difficulty was there. 
He thought it was important to offer the milk to Kṛṣṇa, 
and then we can take it. 
So, we only take milk as prasāda.