Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 7.12.18
Manvantara· The Manus and right dutyVānaprastha Food Is Strictly Regulated
“A person in vānaprastha life should not eat grains grown by tilling of the fields. He should also not eat grains that have grown without tilling of the field but are not fully ripe. Nor should a vānaprastha eat grains cooked in fire. Indeed, he should eat only fruit ripened by the sunshine.”
What the purport teaches
- A person in vānaprastha life should not eat grains produced by tilling fields.
- Even grains grown without tilling should not be eaten when unripe. Grains cooked in fire are also prohibited.
- The prescribed food here is fruit ripened naturally by sunshine.
Try this today
Choose a naturally ripened fruit as part of one meal today, remembering the simplicity described here.
Ask yourself
What does this careful regulation of food show me about vānaprastha discipline?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points, practice and question are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport. Read the full purport to go deeper.