Some Confusion in ISKCON Regarding Fastingby Bhanu Swami

In ISKCON, there is some ambiguity in the term "fasting". This ambiguity is reflected in the VCalcomputer program, and it is often perpetrated in many printed calendars produced by ISKCONcenters. Sometimes "fasting" means fasting from grains all day, as on Ekadasi. Sometimes itmeans not eating anything, even non-grain prasad, until a certain time, as in the phrases "fastingtill noon on Ekadasi" (which is mentioned for the Ekadasis that occur before Vamana and VarahaDwadasis) or "fasting till moonrise" (which is mentioned for Gaura Purnima). And sometimes theterm's meaning is unclear, as in "fasting till noon" on the appearance day of an acarya. Can onetake non-grains before noon on those days? After one "fasts till noon", what does the "break-fast"consist of? On the Ekadasi before Vamana Dwadasi, it must be non-grains, but on the appearanceday of an acarya, it is grains. On Gaura Purnima, many centers "break fast" with non-grains,others serve grains.

It would be better to use the term "fasting" to exclusively refer to not taking grains all day. The term"anukalpa prasad" may be used to mean taking non-grain meals during Ekadasi or appearancedays of avataras. We do not break a fast by taking anukalpa.

For the appearance days of acaryas, the Gaudiya custom is to celebrate the appearance bycommemoration speeches, and the offering of a feast to the acarya. For convenience in maths,this is usually done at noon. But as far as I know there is no injunction concerning that time. Itcould be observed in the morning, since most ISKCON temples have the main meal at that time.Srila Prabhupada seems to bear this out in the following conversation, where even half-day fastingfor Bhaktivinoda’s appearance becomes optional:

Devotee: Fourteenth is the advent of or the demise of Haridäsa Öhäkura?Prabhupäda: YesDevotee: The death, I mean the disappearancePrabhupäda: Yes, but not for demise of Haridäsa Öhäkura, but because that is AnantaCaturdaçé Vrata, the, generally the fasting is observed till evening, up to 5 o’clock. Thenext day, Viçvarüpa Mahotsava, feasting.Devotee: On the 13th of September, Çréla Bhaktivinoda’s Appearance is there anyspecial observance?Prabhupäda: No, special observance means to discuss about the life and works ofBhaktivinoda Öhäkura, thats all. Then 26th September, Ekädaçé.

-- Room conversation, Vrndavana, March 11, 1972

Tamäla Kåñëa: [break] ...on your appearance day and Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté’s andBhaktivinoda Öhäkura and Gaura Kiçora’s we should observe half-day fast. I have aquestion that on all the other auspicious days, just like Narottama däsa Öhäkura andothers, should we also observe half-day fast?Prabhupäda: It is... But if you cannot, that is another...Tamäla Kåñëa: Sometimes because of the saìkértana...Prabhupäda: No, no. If you cannot, you can take.Tamäla Kåñëa: And just sing some songs and praise.Prabhupäda: Yes. Yes. Kértana is main thing.

-- Morning walk, February 11, 1976, Mayapur

It is interesting to note that Srila Prabhupada here mentioned fasting until sunset on AnantaCaturdasi, which no one at present seems to be following.

In the case of Vamana and Varaha Dwadasis, since the Ekadasi must be broken on the Dwadasimorning, fasting (according to our suggested usage of the term) for the avatara appearancescannot be done on those two Dwadasis. Thus, the fasting for the avataras is subsumed by thefasting on Ekadasi. There is no rule, however, that there should be no prasad honored until noonon the Ekadasi. Anukalpa can be taken at any time during the Ekadasi. Worship of the avataraswould take place the next morning, before breaking the fast for Ekadasi. Feasting could follow atany time.

For the appearances of other avatars, in ISKCON we generally fast only on two days -- theappearances of Gauranga and Krishna -- taking anukalpa after celebrating the appearance atmoonrise and midnight respectively. (We understand that in some ISKCON centers, the practicemay be to serve grains instead of anukalpa on these two days, but here we assume that servinganukalpa is the general rule.) For other avataras, most ISKCON centers follow a program of notserving any prasadam until the appearance time of the avatara, then celebrating with abhisekaand kirtan, followed by a grain feast. Rama appeared at noon according to the scriptures, and thisis followed by the Navadwip Panjika. However, Srila Prabhupada on one occasion said that wefast until sunset on that day:

So far the Advent Day of Lord Rama Candra, it should be celebrated as Lord Caitanya'sBirthday was done. Fasting up to evening, and then take prasadam, and chant HareKrishna whole day, and be engaged in reading and chanting off and on, chant for sometime, then read for some time, then again have kirtana and so on, throughout the day.

-- Room conversation, March 26, 1977, Bombay

Thus, we perform abhiseka in the evening, followed by feasting, and VCal says, "fasting tillsunset". To follow scripture, however, we should perform the abhiseka at noon, and follow thatwith feasting. Balarama's, Nityananda's and Advaita's appearance times are not known. Thus, theycould be celebrated at any time, followed by feasting.

Even the instruction for fasting until evening for Lord Rama’s appearance seems a little unclear.Do we take grains or non-grains that evening? Most temples take grains, though some insist thatyou should take only anukalpa.

We are not proposing some grand scheme to overhaul ISKCON's culture and usage ofterminology. Others can say what might be appropriate in this regard. However, since we havebeen asked to consult on the VCal computer program, we have suggested that the program bemodified so as not to perpetrate misunderstandings and confusion. For this reason, we havesuggested that the VCal printout be modified to remove all references to fasting procedures.Instead, a supplementary document can be published that will help the reader to observe thevarious celebrations appropriately.