Manihara: What is the actual benefit that a karmi will get when he takes prasadam?

Prabhupada: Prasadam means the mercy of Krsna. By eating, you are getting mercy. Krsna bado doyamoy koribare jihva jay swa-prasad-anna dilo bhai. Swa-prasad-anna dilo bhai. Sei prasada anna pao radha-krsna-guna gao preme dako caitanya-nitai.

Krsna bado doyamoy. Because we want eating, so He is giving His mercy through eating. Eating, nobody will refuse. So by eating he is being favored by Krsna. This is the process. You understand Bengali? Krsna bado doyamoy: He’s very merciful. Koribare jihva jay. We are accustomed to eat, go to the restaurant, go to the hotel, go to here and there, at home and so on. Simply eating, eating. So this is jihva lampata, prostitution of the tongue. Just like a woman prostitute is not satisfied with one man.

Similarly, our tongue is like prostitute. It is not satisfied with simple foods. Sometimes here, sometimes there, sometimes on the street, sometimes on the restaurant, sometimes a hotel. Regular prostitution. It is called tongue prostitution. There are prostitution of three things: prostitution of the tongue, prostitution of the belly and prostitution of the genital. Three kinds of. Udara-upastha-vegam. Jihva-udara-upastha-vegam [UpAdesamrta 1]. Straight line.

So to stop this prostitution is to control the tongue. The tongue prostitution means he wants to eat varieties of foodstuff. Krsna is so merciful, “All right, you eat varieties of prasadam.” Then tongue prostitution is controlled, and naturally the belly and the genital controlled. Krsna bado doyamoy koribare jihva jay. To own victory over the tongue, He has given varieties… Therefore all nice things should be offered to Krsna, and then take prasadam. They will be benefited.

(Conversation — August 22, 1976, Hyderabad)