Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 11 Chapter 8 Verse 12

Canto 11: General History | Chapter 8: The Story of Pińgalā

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.8.12

sāyantanaḿ śvastanaḿ vā

na sańgṛhṇīta bhikṣukaḥ

makṣikā iva sańgṛhṇan

saha tena vinaśyati

SYNONYMS

sāyantanam — meant for the night; śvastanam — meant for tomorrow; vā — either; na — not; sańgṛhṇīta — should accept; bhikṣukaḥ — a saintly mendicant; makṣikā — honeybee; iva — like; sańgṛhṇan — collecting; saha — with; tena — that collection; vinaśyati — is destroyed.

TRANSLATION

A saintly mendicant should not even collect foodstuffs to eat later in the same day or the next day. If he disregards this injunction and like the honeybee collects more and more delicious foodstuffs, that which he has collected will indeed ruin him.

PURPORT

Bhramara refers to that honeybee who wanders about from flower to flower, and makṣikā is the honeybee who accumulates more and more honey in the beehive with great attachment. A saintly mendicant should be like the bhramara bee because if he imitates the makṣikā bee his spiritual consciousness will be ruined. This point is so important that it is repeated in this verse.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
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