23 April 2026
Thursday
All the objects we offer God in worship, like leaf, flowers, water, and all others, have an allegorical significance. The word leaf does not refer to tulsi or any other leaf. Our body is a leaf. Our body is offered as a sacred leaf to God. Because this body is full of the three gunas, we consider it a leaf and make an offering of it to God. The word ‘pushpa’ stands for the flower of the heart. The flowers we talk of in the context of God do not refer to the earthly flowers that fade away. Similarly, the word fruit is the fruit of the mind. It means that we must do our deeds without expecting any reward, and if action is done in that spirit, it becomes a holy sacrifice. Water does not mean that which is drawn from the taps. It refers to the tears of joy that spring from the depths of your heart. You should not offer leaves gathered from trees, which are external, or flowers from plants in the garden, or water drawn from the well, or fruit from somewhere else, but all these from the tree of your body, which is sacred to God. Whatever offering you make, when you offer those things born out of the tree of your own body, then the full merit will be bestowed on you.
From Summer Showers, 1972, chapter 17
All the objects we offer God in worship, like leaf, flowers, water, and all others, have an allegorical significance. The word leaf does not refer to tulsi or any other leaf. Our body is a leaf. Our body is offered as a sacred leaf to God. Because this body is full of the three gunas, we consider it a leaf and make an offering of it to God. The word ‘pushpa’ stands for the flower of the heart. The flowers we talk of in the context of God do not refer to the earthly flowers that fade away. Similarly, the word fruit is the fruit of the mind. It means that we must do our deeds without expecting any reward, and if action is done in that spirit, it becomes a holy sacrifice. Water does not mean that which is drawn from the taps. It refers to the tears of joy that spring from the depths of your heart. You should not offer leaves gathered from trees, which are external, or flowers from plants in the garden, or water drawn from the well, or fruit from somewhere else, but all these from the tree of your body, which is sacred to God. Whatever offering you make, when you offer those things born out of the tree of your own body, then the full merit will be bestowed on you.