Offering Bhog on Ekadasi

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata—Worldwide, 24 January 2021, part 3

Today is a very auspicious day—I see so many devotees are here. Today is also an ekadasi day. Everybody must follow ekadasi. Is everybody following ekadasi?

Question: When we offering bhog to the Deity on ekadasi, should we offer something that is non-ekadasi (some grain, etc.) as well?

Yes, it is necessary. If somebody lives with you and does not follow ekadasi, what can you do? You can give them some sweet or something. Sometimes, devotees live in their house and if they offer rice, dal, or kitchuri on ekadasi, how will they take it? They do not want to throw away food, so they do not offer grains on this day. If you offer non-ekadasi preparations, then you must give what you cannot take to somebody else, to some other place.

However, if it is a temple with Deities, then we should offer everything, both ekadasi and non-ekadasi preparations. The same applies to the places where Gurudev's Deity is established. For example, I have established Gurudev's Deity in Venezuela, Govardhan, Nabadwip, and Siliguri, and we offer to Gurudev rice, dal, subji, etc. even on ekadasi.

Whether you do it on your personal altar or not, it is not a problem. Both ekadasi and non-ekadasi must be offered to Deities, it is a strict rule, but if you have an altar where you keep a photograph of the Deities, then there is no emergency to follow this rule so strictly. You can offer rice, dal, subji, and if you have some small children in the house who cannot follow the rules and regulations properly, you can give it to them, those children who cannot follow ekadasi can take it. That is also possible.

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