Yes. The food that is offered to the Deities in Temples, is actually eaten by the Deities. The foolish will say, if the food is eaten then why is it still on the plate? The foolish will compare themselves with God. They fail to realize that God is great and we are not. God does not have to eat with His mouth like we do, He can eat simply by glancing at the food. God can also completely eat everything on the plate, but still it will appear to us that nothing has been touched, this is the greatness of God. He can eat everything but still the food remains. For us 1 minus 1 is zero, but for God 1 minus 1 is 1. On millions of occasions, God has also appeared from His Deity form and eaten with His mouth and physically removed the food at the request of His pure devotees. God proves that He is merciful by accepting the offerings of His pure devotees. “If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, I will accept it.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-Gita 9.26) As recently as on 21 September 1995, millions of people saw Vedic Deities in Temples across the world, drinking milk offered to them. I personally witnessed this on live TV. This has happened millions of times to millions of people. Only those who are qualified can understand and see God in Person, standing in front of them. For the owls who refuse to look up and for the narrow minded who cannot see anything outside their tiny well. God will be just a character in a book, completely unknown, unproven, unseen, and unknowable. Does God want to be worshiped in His image Form? “Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of Krsna.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-Gita 8.7) “But those who always worship Me with exclusive devotion, meditating on My transcendental form – to them I carry what they lack, and I preserve what they have.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-Gita 9.22) Some religions preach against image worship, because they have ZERO description of God and thus it’s impossible for them to correctly make an image of God, thus they are advised not to try. “Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-Gita 9.34) “Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend. Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-Gita 18.65-66) The most advanced devotee can see Lord Krishna in His spiritual flesh form everywhere, but for the others, He is seen in the Deity form in Temples. There is no difference between the Deity form and His flesh form, He is present in them both. Most people would be too bewildered if they saw Lord Krishna in His spiritual flesh form and thus He makes Himself available in the Deity form so people are not too much bewildered and distrubed. If a famous person comes to see us, we get too excited and stop our normal life activites. In a similar way, if the Supreme Person is standing in front of us, most people would get too bewildered and their life would be completely disturbed. Thus Lord Krishna makes Himself available for worship in His Deity form, so as not to disturb us too much. If a person gets 100 million dollars in notes delivered to his home, he would be completely disturbed in anxiety for fear of thieves. But if he got a check instead, the fear of thieves would be zero. The cash and check are of the same value. In a similar way, most people would be completely disturted if they see Lord Krishna in His original spiritual form, but they would be less disturbed if they see Him in the Deity form. He is equally present in the Deity form and His original spiritual form, and He has appeared from His Deity form, millions of times to prove it. In the material creation, most peole would be too bewildered to see the Supreme Person in front of them in His original spirutual form, but in the spiritual manifestation, everyone sees Lord Krishna, everyday, face to Face. Joy can only be experienced when we offer our love to Krishna. A devotee is very forgiving and tolerant of others but is very strict and determined with himself guarding against Maya. Please accept my humble obeisances All glories to Srila Gurudeva ... All glories to Srila Prabhupada ... Always think of the Lotus Feet of Lord Krishna and you will find no difficulties in executing the tasks allotted to you by Krishna. Chant these names with love and you will feel the ecstasy: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare ... हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे || हरे राम हरे राम राम राम हरे हरे|| Hare Krishna ... Jay Jagannath ... ~~ Bhakta Sanjay.
God only desire love and devotion in your offerings God does not need any food. He is self sufficient, ever-pervading, omnipresent, and yet he accepts the offering of the devotees in exchange of love and devotion. Anything offered to god with love and devotion becomes prasadam . Before having daily lunch or dinner, devout Hindus offer their food to the god and then chant shlokas folding their hands, closing their eyes, with the belief that the god is pleased with their devotion and the food is blessed for eating.
