Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.8.12
Mukti· LiberationHoarding Endangers Spiritual Consciousness
“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.”
What the purport teaches
- A saintly mendicant should not store begged food for later that day or the next day.
- The bhramara bee wanders from flower to flower, while the makṣikā bee accumulates honey with great attachment. The mendicant should follow the first example, not the second.
- Attached accumulation can ruin spiritual consciousness. The warning is repeated because it is so important.
Try this today
When taking food today, pause and avoid taking extra merely to satisfy the urge to accumulate.
Ask yourself
Where do I notice attachment to collecting more than I need?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
From Canto 10, chapter 14 onward, the translation and purports were completed by Śrīla Prabhupāda's disciples after his departure, and published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.