Hindu Reflections: THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION IS ALL ABOUT FOOD, CARING AND SHARING, CHARITY & GRATITUDE

THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION IS ALL ABOUT FOOD, CARING

AND SHARING, CHARITY & GRATITUDE

[Compilation for a discourse at Sri Ganesha Temple, Nashville, TN, USA, by N.R. Srinivasan, November 2020]

Our sages realized that vital breaths and the senses of all living beings are from Food, our life starts with food that supports life’s journey giving the strength and fortitude, intellectual development and spiritual progress towards Liberation and finally joining our source, enjoying perennial joy. Hence they glorified Food, a gift from Brahman as Brahman Itself!

Food Charity is foremost in the minds of every Hindu. Many Temples in India serve free food to the needy everyday their Food Bank called Annadana Koota Scheme. Vedas glorify food at many places through mantras. Food is almost worshiped as Brahman and calls for all pervasiveness to remind us to keep the world Hunger-free. It is obligatory for every Hindu to offer food first to God and consume it as Prasad or charity from Him. Before starting taking food some morsel of food is kept away on the dining sheet of leaf for birds and animals and then only consumed. Thus the charity extends to animals and birds too besides human beings!

In the Chandogya Upanid there is a beautiful story. Shvetketu, a young man, came back from the university full of knowledge. He was a brilliant student, he had topped the university with all the medals and all the degrees that were possible, available. He came back home with great pride.

His old father, Uddalak, looked at him and asked him a single question. He said to him, "You have come full of knowledge, but do you know the knower? You have accumulated much information, your consciousness is full of borrowed wisdom -- but what is this consciousness? Do you know who you are?"

Shvetketu said, "But this question was never raised in the university. I have learned the Vedas, I have learned language, philosophy, poetry, literature, history, geography. I have learned all that was available in the university, but this was not a subject at all. You are asking a very strange question; nobody ever asked me in the university. It was not on the syllabus, it was not in my course."

Uddalak said, "You do one thing: be on a fast for two weeks, then I will ask you something.He wanted to show his knowledge, just a young man's desire. He must have dreamed that his father would be very happy. Although the father was saying, "Wait for two weeks and fast," he started talking about the ultimate, the absolute, the Brahman.

The father said, "You wait two weeks, then we will discuss about Brahman."

Two days' fast, three days' fast, four days' fast, and the father started asking him, "What is Brahman?" In the beginning he answered a little bit, recited what he had crammed, displayed. But by the end of the week he was so tired, so exhausted, so hungry, that when the father asked, "What is Brahman?" he said, "Stop all this nonsense! I am hungry, I think only of food and you are asking me what Brahman is. Right now, except food nothing is Brahman."

The father said, "So your whole knowledge is just because you were not starved. Because you were taken care of, your body was nourished, it was easy for you to talk about great philosophy. Now is the real question. Now bring your knowledge!"

Shvetketu said, "I have forgotten all. Only one thing haunts me: hunger, hunger - day in, day out. I cannot sleep, I cannot rest. There is fire in my belly, I am burning, and I don't know anything at all. I have forgotten all that I have learned.

The father said, "My son, food is the first step towards Brahman. Food is Brahman -- ANNAM BRAHMA."

A tremendously significant statement. India has forgotten it completely. ANNAM BRAHMA: food is God, the first God.

In several mantras Upanishads worship Food as an entity equated with Brahman (Vyaahriti) and praise food as the root cause of creation. Upanishad says: “prithivyaa osahadhayah /oshadheebhyoe-aannam annaat purushah // from earth herbs were produced; from herbs food was produced and finally that food produced this human body. Out of the gross earth rose up the entire world of vegetation, the source of food. The food that is taken in large quantities by the father crystallizes into its essence as the seeds in him and a seed fertilizing an ovum in the womb of the mother grows into its full maturity, to be born as an individual called Purusha. “Annam vai prajaapatis-tato ha vai tadretah tasmaasdimaah prajaah prajaayante iti” --Prasnopanishad- Food is verily the Lord of all creatures. That human seed is from that Prajaapati. From that all these people are born.

One should not abuse food; one should not discard food on the plate; one should earn so much food that will be adequate for the guests, visitors and one’s own people in the family. One should have regard for food. One should not refuse food to any person who comes to his house during night time for food (offer food and shelter to the needy). As it is incumbent on the individual not to refuse food to any one that comes to the individual’s house for food, the individual should earn adequate food by what -so-ever means it may be, even by un-fare means. One should earn plenty of food by all means. These mantras echo the modern slogans, “Grow more food” and “Food for the Million” and “Food and Shelter for the poor as an act of Charity” and are inspired by the mantras from Taittareeya Upanishad: Annam na nindyaat Praano vaa annam—Respect Food; the body is made for food; Annam na parichaksheeta Aapo vaa annam Jyotirannadam—Waste not food, waste not water, waste not fire; Annam bahu kurveeta Prithivee vaa annam—Increase food. The earth can yield much more; Na Kanchana vasatau pratyaachaksheeta--Never refuse food to those who are hungry. (Annam) Sraddhaya deyam Give food whole-heartedly without expecting even a thanks (Tai.Up.—7 to 10)

Prāṇānāṁ granthirasi rudrah mā viśāntakaḥ tenānnenāpyāyasva (MNU)

You are the binding knot of the breaths and the organs of senses functioning in the body. You are the destroyer (digester) of food that is eaten. Enter into me. Cause satisfaction (to the pranas) through that food.

This mantra is addressed to the gastric fire (Jatharaagni as Vyahriti of Brahman). The pranas depend upon the gastric fire and so the gastric fire is called the granthi or knot which binds them. The fire is called Antakah (destroyer), and so, we call him to pervade with his flames to digest the food.

This Mantra is also interpreted as addressed to Rudra who is manifested as Vaidyalinga ( Divine Physician) among Jyotir Lingas in Puranas.

O Rudra, thou art the binding knot of the breaths and the organs of senses functioning in the body! Enter me as the end-maker of sorrows and increase and protect me by that food which I have taken in!

The various breaths and organs of senses which are the support of man’s cognition, intellect and emotion, function for the sake of the ego or ahaṁkāra, which as prāṇa- granthi sustains the span of life.

Hence Ahaṁkāra is responsible for the upkeep of life in the ordinary plane. Rudra is the regent of ahaṁkāra, which is the knot of life. Rudra is therefore the prāṇa-granthi also.

Further, Rudra in his divine aspect is beseeched to enter the body of the devotee, to remove his sorrows, to nourish him with the food assimilated, and to ward off his mishaps and diseases.

Here is another passage called Anna-Stuti (praise of food) in Mahanarayana Upanishad that calls for SHANTI in its prayer food. śānti means exclusion of all thoughts from the mind other than what is at the focus of attention, or firmly fixing the mind on the object of concentration, that being Food in this context.

annena prāṇāḥ prāṇairbalaṁ balena tapastapasā śraddhā
śraddhayā medhā medhayā manīṣā manīṣayā mano manasā
śāntiḥ śāntyā cittaṁ cittena smṛtiḥ smṛtyā smāraɱ
smāreṇa vijñānaṁ vijñānenātmānaṁ vedayati tasmādannaṁ
dadansarvāṇyetāni dadātyannātprāṇā bhavanti bhūtānāṁ
prāṇairmano manasaśca vijñānaṁ vijñānādānando brahma yoniḥ ||

By the use of Food the breaths and senses are nourished. When the life- breath is nourished one gets bodily strength. Bodily strength gives the capacity to practice tapas (in the shape of self-control, religious fast, food charity and so forth).

As the result of such tapas, faith in scriptural truths springs into existence. By faith mental power comes. By mental power sense-control is made possible. By sense-control reflection is engendered. From reflection calmness of mind results.

Conclusive experience of Truth follows calmness. By conclusive experience of Truth remembrance of it is engendered. Remembrance produces continuous remembrance. From continuous remembrance results unbroken direct realization of Truth. By such realization a person knows the Ātman.

For this reason, he who gives food gives all these. For, it is found that the vital breaths and the senses of creatures are from food, that reflection functions with the vital breath and the senses, that unbroken direct realization comes from reflection and that bliss comes from unbroken direct realization of Truth. Thus having attained bliss one becomes the Supreme which is the source of the universe.

dānamiti sarvāṇi bhūtāni praśaɱsanti dānānnātiduṣkaraṁ tasmāddāne ramante |

All creatures praise selfless gift as supreme, for there is nothing more difficult to perform than giving selfless gift. Therefore seekers of the highest good delight in giving selfless gift.

The word dāna, Charity is a means for our Liberation says Mahanarayana Upanishad that has very wide application:

The four recognized methods of subduing a foe, according to ancient text books of politics, are sāma, dāna, bheda and daṇḍa. The term dāna in this quadrat has a political motive and therefore is foreign to the field of religion.

A gift, to be religious, must be entirely free from visible or invisible strings of self-interest. It is, therefore, defined technically as complete severance of one’s influence and interest in, or proprietorship in any form over, the gift given, and making it the property of the recipient completely and forever.

Gifts are never given by the religious man for establishing domination over the receiver as it happens in the case of political subsidies.

The true religious man does not expect even gratitude and thanks in return for the gift he has made, for he has done an act of utter selflessness merely as a religious duty.

Wealth is power and the instinctive craving for power in all men stands as the main block in the way of merging their will with that of God. Hence follow the difficulty and value of religious gift. Among all acts of Charity Food and Clothing Charity stands in the forefront as we see learn from the life-story of Danasura Karna.

dānaṁ yajñānāṁ varūthaṁ dakṣiṇā loke dātāraɱ
sarvabhūtānyupajīvanti dānenārātīrapānudanta dānena
dviṣanto mitrā bhavanti dāne sarvaṁ pratiṣṭhitaṁ tasmāddānaṁ
paramaṁ vadanti

Giving of gift in the shape of Dakṣiṇā is the secure abode of the sacrifices. In the world all creatures subsist on a giver. People remove by gifts those who are envious and malignant towards them. By gift the unfriendly become friendly. Everything is established in gift. Therefore they say that the gift is the supreme means of liberation.

Giving of charity as Daksahina is the secure abode of the sacrifices. In the world all creatures subsist on a giver. People remove by gifts those who are envious and malignant towards them. By charity the unfriendly become friendly. Everything is established in charity. Therefore they say that charity is the supreme means of liberation.

Any single word like reward, fee, gift or present in English cannot be an equivalent for the word Dakṣiṇā.

Dakṣiṇā is the charity given to the Ritviks and competent witnesses of a sacrifice at the conclusion of it by the institutor of the sacrifice out of his free will and according to the terms of engagement. Often it exceeds the terms, giving greater satisfaction to the participants and the witnesses.

You may recall here how Danasura Karna known for his charity had to return back to earth though he never denied charity to the needy. Even though he has made all kinds of charity he never thought of food charity that stood in his way of getting Liberation. Therefore he returned back to earth from Svarga during Mahalaya Paksha, made lot of food charity to returned back to Svarga and moved forward to attain Liberation, as warrior died at war (veeragati).

The Mahabharata also highlights a fascinating story of a mongoose which hailed the food donation by a Brahmin at his house, as better than that of Yudhishtira’s donation of food in the Aswsmedha Yaga

Lord Rama said to Lakṣmana: "Truly it is said that what is not given by us will not be enjoyed by us in the future!

"I (God) abandon that person who eats before sharing his food with others. But I never forsake that person who gives food to the hungry before eating himself. I am the Lord of all food I take away the food of him who eats without giving; and I nurture and give food in plenty to that person who considers giving food as important as feeding himself”

According to Feeding America, a nonprofit network of food banks across the country, over 35 million people were food insecure in the U.S. prior to the pandemic. The organization estimates that number could rise to over 50 million people this year including 17 million children.

There are a lot of individuals in this county that are still newly vulnerable, looking for work, , trying to figure out how to make ends meet and now more than ever, we should be humbled to be able to be of service on Thanksgiving to provide food to those families.

We can’t think of anything more important than to start our Thanksgiving with our family feeding others before they feed ourselves.

Many local food banks and pantries, with help from their partnerships are working endlessly to ensure people devastated financially by the pandemic have food on their table for the past few months.

Unfortunately, Food donations across the country are at an all-time low at a time where we need them now more than ever, may be due to social isolation during the present pandemic. Food Banks are in need of food items like canned goods to help provide Thanksgiving dinner for homeless people and families in the country. The food banks have seen the demand for food has increase around 400% this year because of the increase in unemployment due to pandemic shutdowns.

Our gift to charitable endowments is much more than food. One way we do that is by supporting community-based organizations that help seniors enroll in programs like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Charitable Programs like SNAP provides support to low-income individuals and families to help them access healthy groceries and nutritious meals. This program is a lifeline for vulnerable seniors, especially those facing challenges related to hunger, like poverty, social isolation or discrimination. SNAP gives these seniors assistance with their food budget and the opportunity to move toward self-sufficiency.

Millions of Americans bought tickets to fly somewhere for Thanksgiving before the nation’s top public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pleaded with them not to travel for the holiday. So what are they doing now? In many cases, they’re still crowding airports and boarding planes. That’s despite relatively lenient cancellation policies by major airlines, Matt O'Brien reports.

The crowding at airports has the nation’s top infectious disease expert worried. Dr. Anthony Fauci says new infections from Thanksgiving travel won’t show up for weeks but could hit at the worst time: during the December holiday season as the weather grows cold.

Thanksgiving is a time when the families and friends get to share the joy of being together in the same place. While this year we celebrate that tradition, may be a bit different, the sentiments of the holiday remains, and we continue to celebrate knowing that life is happier and more fulfilling when we live Mutual!

“Truly, words cannot even begin to suggest to you the joys that await your awakening.

As governments worldwide are enforcing or attempting to enforce a new lock-down on their citizens, due to COVID 19 lifting its face again, fear and anger is intensifying. This is a very natural result when people feel that the ways in which they live their lives are no longer allowed to be self-determined but will, instead, be decided by various government organizations that ‘claim’ to be doing so purely for the benefit of their citizens. These sensations are extremely unsettling because they disturb the “status quo” to which most people had become accustomed, the ‘relatively’ unchanging circumstances of their daily lives. Change is, of course, constant, nevertheless, people resist it unless the circumstances of their lives are experienced as unacceptable, but it often remains unseen because most people follow regular daily routines which confirm for them the sense that change is not occurring.

Now, in this time of confusion and apparent chaos that appears to be largely due to the pandemic, people feel very threatened and unsettled because their normal daily routines have been closed off by authoritarian decree, and there is no indication that this unhappy state of affairs is going to end any time soon. It is no wonder that people are feeling fear and anger, because they are totally unaccustomed to the uncertainty that has now been established, and is apparently intended in their own best interests, if they choose to believe the reasons that are being promulgated by all the mainstream media. And, of course, fear is very divisive, so trust in one’s neighbors is collapsing as negative judgments of one another arise, and confusion over the validity of the measures being imposed leads to disagreements, sometimes fierce disagreements within neighborhoods and within families over how serious and dangerous the situation has become. This is indeed a very confusing and unsettling time for you all, so I would, yet again, remind you how absolutely essential it is for all of you to take time out frequently during the day to go within and reset your intent to be only loving whatever arises.

That intent, consciously held and reset frequently, is extremely powerful and is greatly needed as the collective awakening process draws toward its conclusion. Your loving intentions help so many others to deal with their arising ‘stuff,’ while not being completely overwhelmed by the general sense of anxiety that is very widespread at present. You chose to be in human form at this time to do just this, because you knew that it would be extremely effective in driving your collective awakening process forward. However, due to the amnesiac process involved in becoming human, you have mostly lost your connection to your awareness of that knowing, and so intense doubt arise within you. Therefore engage regularly in conversation with your support teams in the non-physical realms, ask them for reassurance that all truly is moving forward as divinely planned, and they will provide it because that is a major aspect of their work as your support teams. You will feel their love and support, and you will find that your doubts and anxieties have eased, further confirming for you the value of going within to your place of inner peace where Love resides awaiting your invitation to enter into your hearts so that you can joyfully accept Its warm embrace.

Knowing, as you do, that you made a very positive and enthusiastic choice to be incarnate on Earth at this moment in humanity’s collective transition to a much higher level of spiritual evolution, you can relax with certainty into the radiant significance of this upcoming occasion. This is not business as usual, this is the time of Humanity’s Collective Awakening. It is a most wonderful occasion that was created for you by Mother/Father/God at the very moment in which you collectively chose to engage in an unreal drama, a game of separation from Source, so that when you changed your minds – as you inevitably would because Oneness with Source is Reality and embraces you in endless joy – and chose to return to rest in the divine Presence, from which you have never, not even for an instant, actually been separated, the path would appear, lovingly and enthusiastically inviting you to follow it Home!

Truly, words cannot even begin to suggest to you the joys that await your awakening, because it appears to you that joy is an ephemeral state that may only be briefly experienced and then lost, as the basic survival needs of your human living conditions once again demand your full attention. Nevertheless, deep within you there is a knowing that is now rising into your conscious awareness, a knowing that life is a most wonderful and amazing gift that is offering you a prodigious treasure of inconceivable magnificence. You just know that this is the case, although you don’t know why you know, and yet, in spite of this, you do have doubts. Doubting God’s infinite and unchanging Love for you, and doubting if you really are blessed with eternal life in that loving Presence is an aspect of the unreal drama that you experience during temporal life as a human.

This is indeed an amazing, confusing, unsettling, and inspiring time to be present in form on Earth, and all of you reading or listening to this, and other similar channeled messages, do feel this, and are filled with eager anticipation. I assure you that you will not be disappointed, because what awaits you when you awaken will completely dissolve any residual fears or anxieties that you may be clinging to while you wait expectantly to awaken.

Life is about to blossom into the most glorious and delicious state, a state that you presently cannot even conceive of, and yet you do know that this is true.” says John Smallmann, a Western spiritual thinker.

“FUTURE IS BLEAK THOUGH KALASARPA DOSHA ENDED IN SEPTEMBER

The difficult Kalasarpa or Serpent of Time Yoga (combination with all the planets located between the lunar nodes Rahu and Ketu) has marked 2020 with epidemic disease, psychological malaise, paranoia, civil unrest and social change, with a new idealism in some places and old prejudices in others. It will decline somewhat over time but there will be new challenges throughout this year, which is likely to be set the tone of the future century.

Presently as of September 2020 this Kalasarpa Yoga has come to an end by way of transits but its influence remains in the yearly charts. Other difficult astrological combinations are coming as well. he winter solstice of December 2020 is marked by a Saturn-Jupiter conjunction and solar eclipse, with Jupiter near its maximum point of debility, showing the danger of large scale political and economic turmoil or division, which will likely influence the next twenty years until the following Jupiter-Saturn conjunction. The contentious American presidential election of November 2020 occurs just before this.

A new economic order is required as jobs continue to disappear, with many becoming automated or computerized. Schools and universities are going online, reducing their physical presence. New creative thinking is required, not simply getting caught in negativity or emotional reaction.

This new global time of troubles that is likely to last for several decades, and cannot be dealt with in a simplistic manner or with short-term action plans. These global problems have already started in 2001 with global terrorism and 2008 with economic dangers. 2020-2028 will be a period of increased disruptions at government and economic levels, with continuing refugee problems and failed states. 2028-2044 will continue these, perhaps at a more severe level, but with stronger countermeasures.

By 2050, the worst may be over, but the shadow of these events may color the remainder of the century. These issues are generational, not simply a matter of a few years. The end of the century should see a considerable drop in the global population, both by outer problems or better population control. Whether what remains afterward will be a Brave New World or a real new yogic spiritual era is debatable.

Science and technology have proved to be a two-edged sword, raising standards of living but increasing artificial desires, developing better communication but causing a greater polarization in society. Our older organized belief-based religions have failed, carrying on medieval creedal divisions as if these could provide a solution for all humanity. Dharmic traditions with their emphasis on a universal Consciousness show the way forward.

There will be a continuing growing interest in higher consciousness, meditation, Yoga, Vedanta, Ayurveda and natural healing, Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism, the seeds of which have already been cast in the global consciousness, including in the educated elite. Most countries will have spiritual movements and a visionary aspiration in a few. Hopefully, the new spiritual elite can overcome the Asuric (egoistic) tendencies of our current culture and bring in more compassion and devotion.

And always hope must remain. Though the negative forces or Asuras usually have the advantage in this material world, which is their obsession, the Devas or Divine energies can overcome them at the level of the heart, and can win at the end, even when realistic scenarios look bleak.

India remains a target for negative adharmic forces as usual but has been developing a new dharmic strength over the last ten years that can hopefully hold steady through these storms. If so, India can be a guide for all humanity how to integrate science and consciousness-based Spirituality.

In any case, humanity is in for a great deal of turbulence in the years to come. The question is if the nobility of the true human spirit, like the lotus, can surface in this mire. At least to some extent, it will, as it always does. The individual can always transcend, even if society cannot.

We can only spread the message of higher humanity – and look to the cosmic powers to enlighten or chastise our species as our karmas may dictate. We must remain patient during this long-term churning process and sustain the eternal light! Then even the limitations of collective karma can be overcome.

The higher powers are looking for more individuals to aid in this work, which has great blessings for all. May everyone take up that call! This is a call not simply to be a social activist but to be a center for bringing a higher awareness into the world, however one is capable of doing that” says Vamadeva Sastri.

These powerful messages call for our personal involvement to seriously think about making this year’s Thanksgiving Day focused on food, caring and sharing with the have nots, whole-hearted charity and gratitude to all that contribute towards the cause and to the Almighty that seems to be the right attitude to face the bleak future without anxiety--yudhyasva vigata jwarah; atmana vindate veeryam says our scriptures, Act without Anxiety turning inwards enriched by strength!

When you volunteer on Thanksgiving Day, you do more than help providing meals to the poor and homeless. When they see your smiling face, you show them that they have not been forgotten. For many homeless people who come through our food line on Thanksgiving, YOU will be one of the only people who smiles and interacts with them all day. And this small gesture can mean the world to someone who doesn’t have a warm house and family to come home to, on Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is traditionally celebrated with friends and family, but this year it may be harder to get together in person and celebrate as usual because of Coronavirus. It almost feels even more important this year to let your friends and family know that you’re still thinking of them and that you’re thankful for their presence in your life. Many of us have had a difficult year this year with illness, loss, uncertain employment, and isolation due to COVID-19. But that should not weaken our souls to express our love and gratitude!

Charity and Gratitude offers us a direct connection with the Powers above. Today, let us remember that no matter how turbulent and difficult our lives may feel, we can always find something to be thankful for.

Annadata Sukhi Bhava

“Annadata Sukhi Bhava” means “those who are providing me with this food, let them be happy’.

When we say this, we are wishing prosperity for three people. One is to the farmer; the second is to the trader who buys from the farmers and sells the produce, and the third is to the people who cook the food and serve it to you.

If we really look at it, the true ANNADATA (the Giver of Food) is none other than GOD himself. And GOD is always happy and content. Does GOD ever become unhappy?

No! Yet, at the level of this gross material world that we are in, we pray to GOD who is the ultimate nurturer, for the HAPPINESS and well-being of these three people who help to provide us with food. We all should CHANT this every day, both before and after our meals--Ravishankar

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Have a happy, happy thanksgiving

May your day for always be smiling/

Have a happy, happy thanksgiving/

May your day for always be beaming/

”Counting the blessings”

Wheels of hidden time rolls on path of eternal faith/

Driven by the providence on this consecrated earth/

Blessed we are to be riding along from time of birth/

Singing euphonious songs in search of land of mirth/

Counting the blessings in every breath relishing life/

Live the moment of time whether it is joy or strife/

Counting the blessings in every breath relishing life/

Live with content with the blessings that are in rife/

Cordiality of morning sun brings divine love from beyond/

Gift of the day is decked with beauty of nature all around/

Light of the sun is the sparkle of life that is forever grand/

Giving way for moon to shine with glow of stars abound/

Asha and Ram

November 26^th 2020

APPENDIX

AMERICAN PRESIDENT PARDON, A MESSAGE OF “AHIMSA PARAMO DHARMAH”

What inspired Meat loving American Presidents to Pardon a pair of Turkeys on the eve of Thanksgiving?

Pardoning the Thanksgiving Turkey

The official "pardoning" of White House turkeys is an interesting White House tradition that has captured the imagination of the public in recent years. It is often stated that to a turkey recorded in an 1865 dispatch by White House reporter Noah Brooks was the origin for the pardoning ceremony.

Reports of turkeys as gifts to American presidents can be traced to the 1870s, when Vose began sending well fed birds to the White House. The First Families did not always feast upon Vose's turkeys, but the yearly offering gained his farm widespread publicity and became a veritable institution at the White House. At Thanksgiving 1913, a turkey-come-lately from Kentucky shared a few minutes of fame with the fine-feathered Rhode Islander. Soon after, in December, Horace Vose died, thus ending an era. But the turkey gifts had become established as a national symbol of good cheer.

While 1947 was the beginning of the official turkey presentation from the poultry industry, the turkey pardon remained a sporadic tradition. In December 1948, Truman accepted two turkeys and remarked that they would "come in handy" for Christmas dinner. There was clearly no plan for these birds to receive a presidential pardon. The Washington Post used both "pardon" and "reprieve" in a 1963 article in which President Kennedy said of the turkey, "Let's keep him going." During the latter years of the Nixon presidency, Patricia Nixon accepted the turkeys on behalf of the President and in 1973 sent the bird to the Oxon Hill Children’s Farm. The 1978 turkey, presented to First Lady Rosalynn Carter, met a similar fate when it was sent to Evans Farm Inn to live in a mini zoo.

After 1981, the practice of sending the presentation turkey to a farm became the norm under President Ronald Reagan. The turkey ceremony also became a source of satire and humor for reporters. The formalities of pardoning a turkey gelled by 1989, when President George H. W. Bush, with Animal Rights Activists picketing nearby, quipped, "But let me assure you, and this fine tom turkey, that he will not end up on anyone's dinner table, not this guy -- he's granted a Presidential pardon as of right now -- and allow him to live out his days on a children's farm not far from here.”

Trump pardons turkeys before Thanksgiving

President Trump pardoned Corn and Cob as part of the White House tradition this year perhaps dreaded by the Corona virus originating from Animal Origin in China if not the tradition of customary President’s Pardoning Turkey!

The annual event typically serves as a light-hearted reprieve from the partisan rancor of Washington, with the president delivering remarks stuffed with bad puns and concluding with a playful pardon of a turkey.

Earlier in the day, the president made a surprise appearance in the White House press briefing room, where he delivered remarks for just over a minute to tout the stock market and vaccine progress before promptly departing without taking questions.

The National Thanksgiving Turkey Butter stands before the start of an event where President...

In the first major sign of the president accepting the reality of his defeat, the Trump administration on Monday formally recognized the Biden transition, freeing up government resources and outgoing and incoming teams to coordinate. The president subsequently tweeted that the cooperation did not amount to a concession. Did President Trump Pardon Himself too in this 2020 Year Thanksgiving Celebration of perfect vision or Kalasarpa Yoga that ended in September, besides the Two Turkeys?

President Donald Trump pardons Corn, the national Thanksgiving turkey, in the Rose Garden...

The president cracked fewer jokes than he has in years' past as he announced that that a turkey named Corn would be this year's National Thanksgiving Turkey. Corn, along with its alternate Cob, hail from an Iowa farm.

“Like so many presidential flocks, this one started in the great state of Iowa in what can only have been described as an act of blatant pandering. And by the way, I love the state of Iowa," Trump said, to the laughter of the audience.

"Corn, I hereby grant you a full pardon," Trump said, holding up his hand. "Thank you, Corn."

Corn was selected this year's winner through an online poll conducted by the White House. Corn emerged the champion with a nearly eight-point lead on Cob.

But while only one turkey wins the official title of National Thanksgiving Turkey each year, the reality is that neither turkey will lose its life as a result of the White House ceremony.

The lucky birds typically go to Virginia Tech University, where they live out the remainder of their natural lives at a facility known as "Gobbler's Rest."

This year, Trump said, the turkeys will head to Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, where veterinarians would care for them and members of the public could meet them.

The tradition of the president pardoning a turkey can be traced back as far as President Abraham Lincoln, who spared a turkey from becoming the family's Christmas meal at the intervention of his son.

But the tradition of the formal turkey pardoning, as we know it today, didn't start in earnest until President George H.W. Bush in 1989, who jokingly passed down a pardon to the turkey presented to him as Animal Rights Activists protested nearby, according to the White House Historical Association.

Animal Rights Movement, sometimes called the animal liberation, animal personhood, or animal advocacy movement, is a social movement which seeks an end to the rigid moral and legal distinction drawn between human and non-human animals, an end to the status of animals as property, and an end to their use in the research, food, clothing, and entertainment industries. It is reasonable to believe this has its origin inspired by “Aatmavat sarvabhootshu’-the same Self abides in all living beings of Vedas and later concretized by “ahimsa parmodharmah” of Jainism and Buddhism.