Śrīla Prabhupāda: If devotion is not there, Kṛṣṇa doesn’t like any food, either tasty or not tasty. He does not accept it.
A devotee: In India …
Śrīla Prabhupāda: Oh, India, India. Don’t talk of India! Talk of philosophy. If there is no devotion, Kṛṣṇa does not accept anything, whether in India or in your country . Lord Kṛṣṇa is not obliged to accept anything costly because it is very tasty. Kṛṣṇa has very many tasty dishes in Vaikuṇṭha. He is not hankering after your food. He accepts your devotion, bhakti. The real thing is devotion, not the food. Kṛṣṇa does not accept any food of this material world. He accepts only the devotion .
Bob: I still do not understand so much about prasādam.
Śrīla Prabhupāda: Prasādam is always prasādam. But because we are not elevated sufficiently, therefore we do not like some prasādam .
Bob: I find that some prasādam is too spicy and hurts my stomach .
Śrīla Prabhupāda: Well, that is also due to not appreciating , but the cook should have some consideration . Kṛṣṇa must be offered first-class foods. So if the cook offers something last class, he is not performing his duty. But Kṛṣṇa can accept anything if it is offered by a devotee, and a devotee can accept any prasādam, even if it is spicy . Hiraṇyakaśipu gave his son poison , and after offering it to Kṛṣṇa the son drank it as nectar and remained unharmed .
So even if prasādam is very spicy to others , it is very palatable to the devotee . What is the question of spicy? Kṛṣṇa was offered poison, real poison, by Pūtanā Rākṣasī . But He is so nice that He thought, “She came to Me as My mother.” So He took the poison and delivered her. Kṛṣṇa does not take the bad side. A good man does not take the bad side – he takes only the good side. Just like one of my Godbrothers: he wanted to make business with my Guru Mahārāja [spiritual master]. But my Guru Mahārāja did not take the bad side. He took the good side. He thought, “He has come forward to give me some service.”
Bob: Let us say some devotee has some medical trouble and cannot eat a certain type of food. For instance, some devotees do not eat ghee because of liver trouble . So should these devotees also take all kinds of prasādam?
Śrīla Prabhupāda: No, no. Those who are not perfect devotees may discriminate . But a perfect devotee does not discriminate . Why should you imitate a perfect devotee? So long as you have discrimination, you are not a perfect devotee. So why should you artificially imitate a perfect devotee and eat everything?
The point is, a perfect devotee does not make any discrimination. Whatever is offered to Kṛṣṇa is nectar . That’s all. Kṛṣṇa accepts anything from a devotee. “Whatever is offered to Me by My devotee, I accept.” The same thing is true for a pure devotee. Don’t you see the point? A perfect devotee does not make any discrimination. But if I am not a perfect devotee and I discriminate, why should I imitate the perfect devotee? It may not be possible for me to digest everything because I am not a perfect devotee . A devotee should not be a foolish man. It is said: kṛṣṇa ye bhaje se baḍa catura. So a devotee knows his position , and he is intelligent enough to deal with others accordingly .
(excerpt from Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers Book – Chapter 6)
