Re-heating Prasādam (04/02/19)
Dear _______,
Śrī Śrī Guru Gaurāṅga jayate!
Actually in the Gauḍīya sampradāya, and in any temple in India of any other sampradāya, NO prasādam is ever re-heated. If prasādam is re-heated it is considered that you are taking prasādam for sense-gratification and therefore making an offense.
However, when the saṅkīrtana movement came to western countries that are very cold and prasādam is left sitting for a couple of hours and becomes so cold that it becomes almost impossible to digest properly, then the exception was made that prasādam could be re-heated. It was always the rule that rice should NOT be re-heated, but one could put hot dhāl on top of the rice and take in that way.
Gauḍīyas and all other sampradāyas coming from India are mostly in tropical areas and prasādam has a problem of going off (rotting) in the humid tropical climate, so it is mostly the habit of temples to not have leftover prasādam. Anything leftover is usually immediately distributed to someone. So everything is taken – no need to re-heat.
I doubt that if your friend eats re-heated rice he will get food poisoning. Although, it is the practice not to re-heat rice, I have never heard of anyone becoming sick by taking re-heated rice.
In any case, a statement from Prabhupāda about re-heated rice has nothing to do with Kṛṣṇa consciousness and is therefore a relative statement – probably something Prabhupāda learned from his mother.
Vaiṣṇava sevaite,
Swami Narasiṅgha
