It was really nice when i was reading about how the food krsna eats is devotion. Here sridhar maharaja says that even when krsna appears as ramacandra who it bound by law he takes the food of low quality from an untouchable lady, similarly he takes banana peels from vidura's wife. I really found the whole excerpt beautiful!
api cet suduracaro, bhajate mam anaya-bhak
sadhur eva sa mantavyah, samyag vyavasito hi sah
(Bhagavad-gita 9.30)
“If a person is an unalloyed devotee who worships Me exclusively, having
abandoned all other pursuits based on exploitation and renunciation, even if he commits
some abominable action, he is to be considered saintly. He is cent-per-sent pure, because
his endeavours are completely on My behalf and his determination is fixed in that
resolve.”
This is because one who has really surrendered to Krishna is accepted by Him as
His own, and such a surrendered soul should never be considered impure, a transgressor.
So, what is bhajana? It is a transaction of the heart, not of any formality. In Krishna
devotion, Krishna-bhakti, the only consideration is the dedication of the heart. Krishna
wants that, and not any external formality of the civilized or non-civilized world. In the
case of Lord Ramachandra also, we see that although in the highest consideration He is
the director of moral laws, niti, He could not contain Himself when offered something
with devotion by an ‘untouchable’ lady. And that was after she had first taken it herself,
after she had taken some sweet. Whatever remained that she considered most tasteful, she
kept for Rama, and He accepted it.
There is another incident that happened in Vidura’s house. While Vidura was out
collecting alms, Krishna suddenly appeared as a guest at his house. Vidura’s wife
received Him, but there was nothing to offer, only some bananas. So after seating Him
nicely she gave Him that, but she was offering the banana peels to Krishna and discarding
the fruit on the ground. She was so bewildered, overwhelmed by the joy of finding that
Krishna was suddenly present in her house, that she was discarding the fruit and giving
Him the peels, and He was eating them.
At that very moment Narada and Vidura arrived. Vidura exclaimed: “What are you
doing? You are leaving the furi and giving the peels to my Lord!” But Narada came to
her relief: “She is bewildered, but He who is eating is not at all disturbed! One might
think that He would say, ‘Oh, give me the fruit. Why are you giving Me the peels?’ But
He is eating without any concern.” Then Krishna answered, “I am eating neither the fruit
nor the peels, but I am eating that which is devotion! I am accepting her devotion. Neither
the peel nor the fruit can satisfy Me; I need neither the one nor the other, but I live on
devotion, Narada.”
patram puspam phalam toyam,
yo me bhaktya prayacchati
tad aham bhakty-upahrtam,
asnami prayatatmanah
(Bhagavad-gita 9.26)
The Lord says, “I accept all those foodstuffs that are offered; but actually it is not
the food itself that I take, rather it is the purpose behind that offering, the ideal. It is the
very spirit of the thing I am concerned with and never the outward show. I am living in
the inner world, so with food also it is the inner substance with which I am concerned,
not the external appearance.” Therefore it is said, bhava-grahi-janardanah, “Lord
Janardana (Krishna) sees the mood of devotion.” Devotion does not care for the ordinary
rules and regulations of this material world. Still, in our lower condition we are advised
to go on with arcana, and depending on our stage of realization, what we think to be pure
we offer, and what is impure we reject. In the preliminary stage this is necessary for our
fortune, but as we advance these external considerations are eliminated and the internal
ones are given more and more importance.