Food and Living Beings

   All living beings are born from food and live on food (annam).  Annad bhavanti jivani | says the Gita. And, food comes from rain! Rain (parjanya) is the product of sacrifice (jaynyam). 'Yajnya' or sacrifice is the action performed by priests and the sacrificer (yajaman). This yajnya is performed by Brahmana who knows the Veda and the mantra. In fact, the Veda, the mantra and the Brahmana go together. Brahmana means 'knower' (vedvidu) of mantra. The knowledge of mantra is comes from akshara- 'ah' and Brahman is Vedabrahma. Akshara is that immutable, Omniscient, Eternal and the Unmanifest- the source of all that exists. Incidentally, 'Akshara' also means alphabets- the alpha and beta of creation! The manifest aspects of 'Brahman', the Unmanifest, is the Universe, the world of objects. The entire universe, rather, the material world is the product of the manifestation of 'akshara brahmn'. The creation of the universe is the result of 'kshara' (Reduction) of 'Ah' (Brahmn). 'A-h' is the range of alphabets starting from 'a' to 'h' and these are the sounds of breath emanating from the jiva! It is said that the Deity of akshara breathes unto others without Her self breathing! 

    Thus, it can be inferred that the creation is the end result of yajnya, sacrifice, the breath! Each and every breath is a sacrifice (yajnya), the inward and outward flow of the 'Life-force'  (Prana). The vibration (kampana) and the consequent sound (shabda) of the air that one breathes create the alphabets (vowels) full of creative energy, power, and force. These are the a, e, i, o, u, am, ah. Each of these alphabets are supported by brahman ('a'). The syllable or letter 'a' is at the root of all creation and supports all creation. The sequence of creation is thus: 'a' ('sat') as the initial promoter of 'chit shakti'  (Consciousness), followed by creative power 'e' ('ae') and 'i' ('ai') that produce 'ichha' ('desire') to promote the objective phenomenal world. The sounds and the letters of alphabet originate within the body of the jiva. These sounds (shabda), alphabets (akshara) and the words (pada formed by the grouping alphabets or akshara) produce the objects (padartha) according to the the meaning (artha) they 'desire' (ichha)!

     These are the pronunciate aspects of the Deity, Devi Sharada and Devi Saraswati. The letters are full of potency, capable of producing the desired results and are knows as the seed-letters (bijakshara) of the mantra of the Devi ( like 'aim'). The Deity, Devi Annapurneshwari is the Goddess of Food. Food gives strength and annam is brahma. Anna is the supporter of Life and Life-force (prana) and the life-breath. Thus, the air we breathe, the food we eat and the life-force (Prana) are all related to the Brahmn, the manifest forms of padartha (arising out of pada and artha supported by akshara).  Now, it is also stated that the jivarashi (living beings) depend on food arising out of soil, water and heat. It is also stated that the food possesses qualities that are imbued by the jivarashis.  One has to be careful in food order to live a sane and sensible life. The Gita explains this aspect too!      The different types of food obtained from different geographic regions, soils and minerals,and the climate affect significantly.Thus, people display different qualities according to the principle; guneshu guna vartante |  The Gita gives a classification of tamas, rajas and sattvic foods and the people.
  

(to be contd.)