Is the aspect of cleanliness of food equally important?
In the matter of food, there are three aspects regarding the cleanliness of which we should take great care. One is cleanliness of the material, which we use for cooking the food. The second is the cleanliness of the vessel in which we want to cook the food. We can certainly clean the materials, which constitute the food and also clean the vessel in which it is cooked. The third aspect relates to the cleanliness of the process of cooking. This is not easily possible. Until the material gets cooked to its final stage, our ideas should be good for this to be achieved.Even if there are lapses in these aspects of cleanliness, namely the vessel, the materials used for cooking and the process of cooking, if we offer the food to Paramatma before we eat, then the food will become clean.
(Summer Showers 1977, pg 173)
