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I see lot of people offering flowers, fruits and other tangible things to god to please him. However, I fail to understand, how can god be pleased by offerings that are his own creation.

Say No To Censorship
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Ashwith Ullal
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  • What else should we offer? Indeed each and everything that exists was created by God. We are too His creation. We are His Jeeva Shakti. See Are we really God? and Why one should worship God? – The Destroyer Feb 02 '16 at 08:31
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    First part of question 'I see lot of people offering God's own creation'. Very true. This is right attitude. The one who goes by this logic arrives at the conclusion that all that exists is God. Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma. He then realizes that everything is already His. There is nothing to offer. The offering, the act of offering and the one offering it, are all equally Brahman (Brahmarpanam mantra). This leads to absolute self-surrender or AKA SELF-REALIZATION sir – Sai Feb 02 '16 at 15:24
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    Second part of the question 'How can God be pleased by the offering, that are His own creation'. Suppose you give your child a toy. Then the child says 'Oh Father/Mother, I offer this toy back to You. I want only You. Please always be with Me'. Will you not run and hug that child. Will you not be pleased with His love and sincerity. Who cares about the toy! It is the LOVE! That's what matters. God does not want your offerings. He wants your Love. When you offer the flowers and your possessions to Him, He sees your Love. The greatest offering is offering your Ego to God. All the best sir!! :) – Sai Feb 02 '16 at 15:27
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    @Sai, what kind of enjoyment do you derive by writing such nice answers in form of comments, consistently? :-) Is it because of lack of scriptures? Your answers are very relatable. I would upvote anyway, even if in scriptures it's mentioned otherwise. – iammilind Feb 03 '16 at 11:53
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    @iammilind Thank you friend for the compliments. I do write answers, when I feel that an elaborate answer is required. If one ore two paragraphs suffice, then I generally stick to comments. However you are totally right that it is always better to write answers, rather than leave it as a comment. Perhaps I will start writing answers more often thanks to your kind encouragement! Thanks – Sai Feb 03 '16 at 15:28
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    @Sai When I read toy example it melts my heart, thank you Sai now I see what is really important. :) –  Feb 08 '16 at 20:33

3 Answers3

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God or Iswara is not gaining anything ,we offer him fruits, flowers and leaves because it pleases us.God doesn't need them so to speak ,as he is the creator and owner of all that exists.Its because of our love and devotion that we offer him such meagre things.

When we say "naivedyam nivedayami" during a shodasa upachara Puja it doesn't mean that we are literally feeding him but it means that we are making him know that we are aware of the fact that its him who have created all this and hence we can only partake the food after its being offered to him.

Btw,a question such as this never appears(or it should not appear) in a devotee's mind.

EDIT-Refer also to the Dasopadesam(the ten commandments) given by Paramacharya Maha Swamigal JagadGuru Shri Chandrasekarendra Saraswati .One of which says:

Upadesam # 2) Man by himself cannot create even a blade of grass. We will be guilty of gross ingratitude if we do not offer first to God what we eat or wear - only the best and choicest should be offered to Him.

This Upadesa nicely address the question you have asked.

Rickross
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I would say, its a matter of love. Imagine your 1.5 year old kid(actually I have one now) grabbing some stuff from your plate as you are eating and feeding back to you and showing his tiny teeth. How to you feel? The Supreme Lord is a person. And so is other gods as well. And everyone wants sweet relationships. And one of the ways by which relationships are realized is by offering and accepting stuff, be it fruits or flowers. Hope this helps.

VivekDev
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The best answer to your question is, to show respect. We offer them food/sweets right in the beginning without it being "jhoota".This is purely in the sense of respect.

Also flowers are a part of the offering because of their incense.

Rishabh Sharma
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