सायन्तनं श्वस्तनं वा न सङ्गृह्णीत भिक्षितम् । पाणिपात्रोदरामत्रो मक्षिकेव न सङ्ग्रही ॥ ११ ॥
sāyantanaṁ śvastanaṁ vā na saṅgṛhṇīta bhikṣitam pāṇi-pātrodarāmatro makṣikeva na saṅgrahī
- sāyantanam
- meant for the night
- śvastanam
- meant for tomorrow
- vā
- either
- na
- not
- saṅgṛhṇīta
- should accept
- bhikṣitam
- food in charity
- pāṇi
- with the hand
- pātra
- as one’s plate
- udara
- with the belly
- amatraḥ
- as the storage container
- makṣikā
- the bee
- iva
- like
- na
- not
- saṅgrahī
- a collector
A saintly person should not think, “This food I will keep to eat tonight and this other food I can save for tomorrow.” In other words, a saintly person should not store foodstuffs acquired by begging. Rather, he should use his own hands as his plate and eat whatever fits on them. His only storage container should be his belly, and whatever conveniently fits into his belly should be his stock of food. Thus one should not imitate the greedy honeybee who eagerly collects more and more honey.