Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.20.48
Manvantara· The Manus and right dutyOffer the Harvest to the Supreme Lord
“In all the towns and villages people held great festivals, performing the Vedic fire sacrifice for honoring and tasting the first grains of the new harvest, along with similar celebrations that followed local custom and tradition. Thus the earth, rich with newly grown grain and especially beautified by the presence of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, shone beautifully as an expansion of the Supreme Lord.”
What the purport teaches
- People in towns and villages celebrated the new harvest with Vedic fire sacrifices and local festivals. The purport distinguishes the authorized Vedic sacrifice from folk ceremonies with somewhat worldly objectives.
- In celebrations such as Navanna, new grains are first offered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead through the Deities in temples. Everyone is then invited to take sweet rice made from those grains.
- Rich with newly grown grain, the earth shone beautifully as an expansion of the Supreme Lord. The presence of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma especially enhanced her beauty.
Try this today
Offer a small portion of grains to the Supreme Lord before tasting them today.
Ask yourself
How can celebrating abundance become an occasion to honor the Supreme Lord?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
From Canto 10, chapter 14 onward, the translation and purports were completed by Śrīla Prabhupāda's disciples after his departure, and published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.