An orthodox or religious Hindu household observes a ritual practice prior to and after a meal. An eating ritual is also a common practice in temples or other religious events. The ritual comprises four common practices to be followed before eating a major meal. A major meal in a Hindu household is one where rice is served. Local or ethnic traditions may see some variations in these four practices:

• Sprinkling or circumambulating water around the food plate
• Keeping five morsels of rice on the right side of the plate
• Taking a few drops of water before eating the grains of rice
• Eating six morsels of rice

In the temples and other religious events, a banana leaf serves as the plate and adds further grandeur to the traditional practice.

Ancient Indian homes had mud or stone-covered floors attracting ants and insects during a meal. They served food on a banana leaf, banyan tree, or sal tree leaves stitched together. Sprinkling water around the leaf created a barrier to these insects. From a religious perspective, sprinkling water around the food is a symbolic acknowledgment of the substance or fuel of life.

Then comes the moment of offering gratitude through food. This is done with a symbolic offering of five morsels of rice, kept on the right side. The first morsel is e gratitude for the various forces of divinity. The second morsel is for our ancestors. Seers, teachers, and spiritual masters who guide us represent the third. The fourth one is to acknowledge our fellow beings. Gratitude to the vast nature is through the fifth morsel.

The Upanishad has a fascinating story of the various sense organs egoistically highlighting their importance. There was a tussle between the sense organs for supremacy and each one claimed that they were the primary source of life and indispensable to the body. They soon realize that the body can still exist with a decaying sense organ but without the vital breath, life comes to a stand still. The body without vital breath is a lifeless piece of flesh. With this realization, the sense organs bow down to the vital breath and acknowledge it as the foundation and very source of life. 

Sipping water prior to eating is the third ritual. It is gratitude and recognition of the importance of the vital breath. In fact, even after the meal is complete, the traditional Hindu sips a few drops of water as a conclusion and to be thankful for the vital life breath.

As the last step, the soft chanting of the primordial sound “Om” accompanies the eating of six morsels of rice. Each morsel is once again a benediction to different life energies.

• The first morsel is for forces that keep us in balance
• Second one is for energy forces moving through the respiratory system
• Third is for the body control system that gives us the buoyancy
• The fourth morsel is for the energy to process the food we eat
• Fifth is for the forces that drive the digestive and disposal of waste
• A complete benediction to all the life energies is through the sixth morsel

The eating ritual of four practices takes only a few seconds to complete. It is a moment to connect with the cosmic universe with humility and gratitude. The practice emerged as a combination of the instructions of various scriptures and over time became a tradition.

A simple ritual before eating a meal is an effortless action but one that is embedded with bountiful gratitude. Why not follow at least a part of it or even better all four steps?

Krishna, the preceptor of the Gita says:

रसोऽहम् अप्सु कौन्तेय प्रभास्मि शशि-सूर्ययोः ।
प्रणवः सर्व-वेदेषु शब्दः खे पौरुषं नृषु ॥ ८ ॥

raso’ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ |
praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu śabdaḥ khe pauruṣaṃ nṛṣu || 7.8 ||

I am the syllable OM in all Vedic mantras. I am the taste in water, the radiance of the moon and the sun, I am the energy-giving ability in all beings and the source of space, light and sound.