FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.8.15

न देयं नोपभोग्यं च लुब्धैर्यद् दु:खसञ्चितम् । भुङ्क्ते तदपि तच्चान्यो मधुहेवार्थविन्मधु ॥ १५ ॥
na deyaṁ nopabhogyaṁ ca
[na deyam nopabhogyam cha]
lubdhair yad duḥkha-sañcitam
[lubdhair yad duhkha-sanchitam]
bhuṅkte tad api tac cānyo
[bhunkte tad api tach chaanyo]
madhu-hevārthavin madhu
[madhu-hevaarthavin madhu]
Word-for-word
na — not deyam — to be given in charity to others na — not upabhogyam — to be enjoyed personally ca — also lubdhaiḥ — by those who are greedy yat — that which duḥkha — with great struggle and pain sañcitam — is accumulated bhuṅkte — he enjoys tat — that api — nevertheless tat — that ca — also anyaḥ — someone else madhu-hā — the one who steals the honey from the beehive iva — like artha — wealth vit — one who knows how to recognize madhu — the honey.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
na deyaṁ nopabhogyaṁ ca
na
not
deyam
to be given in charity to others
na
not
upabhogyam
to be enjoyed personally
ca
also
lubdhair yad duḥkha-sañcitam
lubdhaiḥ
by those who are greedy
yat
that which
duḥkha
with great struggle and pain
sañcitam
is accumulated
bhuṅkte tad api tac cānyo
bhuṅkte
he enjoys
tat
that
api
nevertheless
tat
that
ca
also
anyaḥ
someone else
madhu-hevārthavin madhu
madhu-hā
the one who steals the honey from the beehive
iva
like
artha
wealth
vit
one who knows how to recognize
madhu
the honey.
A greedy person accumulates a large quantity of money with great struggle and pain, but the person who has struggled so much to acquire this wealth is not always allowed to enjoy it himself or give it in charity to others. The greedy man is like the bee who struggles to produce a large quantity of honey, which is then stolen by a man who will enjoy it personally or sell it to others. No matter how carefully one hides his hard-earned wealth or tries to protect it, there are those who are expert in detecting the whereabouts of valuable things, and they will steal it.
Purport

One may argue that a wealthy man may conceal his money so expertly, by investing it in banks, stocks, properties, and so on, that there is no danger of theft. Only foolish people actually hide money by burying it in the ground or placing it under a mattress. But despite the fact that the majority of the world’s wealth has been accumulated in highly developed capitalistic countries, these countries are being severely challenged by many enemies who threaten at any moment to overrun the capitalists and steal their wealth. Similarly, we often find that the children of wealthy people are kidnapped, and then their parents must pay huge ransoms. Sometimes the parents themselves may also be kidnapped. Furthermore, there are so-called investment counselors who are expert in stealing the money of rich people; and in the modern age governments have also become expert in stealing money by taxation. Thus, the word artha-vit indicates one who by hook or by crook is expert in stealing the hard-earned wealth of other people. The bees work frantically to produce honey, but they will not enjoy their honey. As Lord Kṛṣṇa states, mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham: “I will come as death personified and steal everything.” ( Bg. 10.34 ) Somehow or other one’s hard-earned material opulence will be stolen, and therefore, as mentioned in this verse, one should not work uselessly like the foolish honeybee.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
The wealth that greedy persons collect with great difficulty but neither enjoy nor spend is enjoyed by another person, just as the collector of honey, knowing how to attain his goal, takes honey collected by the bees. Wealth accumulated without giving or enjoying is taken by others. The bee keeper teaches this. Another person who is stronger enjoys what is collected by another person, just as a person enjoys honey gathered by the bees. “How can another person understand one has wealth if one hides it?” Some persons understand wealth by certain symptoms in another person and know how to get it (arthavit). The honey collector knows where to get the honey in the hollow of the tree by following the bees.
Related values & verses
Related verses
BG 10.34
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Hoarded wealth, like the bee's honey, is stolen by someone expert at taking it — Kṛṣṇa as death takes all, so do not labor uselessly.
Practical Applications
  • Name one stash of wealth you are anxiously guarding, and today give a measurable portion of it in Kṛṣṇa's service before someone else takes it.
  • Refuse one act of greedy accumulation today — a purchase, an extra hour of overwork, a hoarding decision — and use the freed time or money for sādhana or charity.
  • Each evening, look at the day's earnings and ask whether you spent them, gave them, or merely guarded them like the honeybee, and adjust tomorrow accordingly.
Reflection Questions
  • Where am I working frantically like the honeybee — producing wealth I will neither enjoy nor give away — and who is the artha-vit waiting to take it?
  • If Kṛṣṇa as mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraḥ will take everything, what am I still pretending I have securely stored against Him?
For Each Age Group
youth
  • Notice the hours you pour into building a follower count, a GPA, or a resume line that you will not even remember in ten years, and redirect one of those hours today to hearing or chanting about Kṛṣṇa.
  • Refuse one purchase this week that is really about hoarding status — the extra sneaker, the upgraded phone, the trend buy — and quietly give that money toward Kṛṣṇa's service.
  • When a friend brags about an internship salary or a scholarship, practice not envying the honey; remind yourself someone expert will eventually take it, and ask what they are doing with their soul.
householder
  • Sit with your spouse this week, look honestly at savings and investments, and decide together one fixed percentage that goes to Kṛṣṇa's service before any further accumulation.
  • Refuse one career move today that is driven purely by greedy accumulation — the extra job, the speculative bet, the overtime that steals time from children's spiritual training.
  • Teach your children by example: let them see you give in charity from real wealth, not from leftovers, so they learn early that hoarded honey is always taken.
senior
  • Begin actively dismantling the hoard now — give meaningful wealth to Kṛṣṇa's service in your lifetime rather than leaving it for an artha-vit, a tax authority, or a quarreling heir to take.
  • Speak frankly with your family this month about your estate as an offering, not a legacy of accumulation, and name the portion that will go to devotional service.
  • Each morning, meditate on mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham from BG 10.34 — Kṛṣṇa as death takes all — and let that meditation loosen one more attachment to property, savings, or possessions before the day begins.
Common Pitfalls
  • Reading this as a warning against the rich while quietly continuing the same hoarding pattern at one's own smaller scale.
  • Using "detachment from wealth" as an excuse for laziness or irresponsibility toward dependents the householder is duty-bound to maintain.
  • Becoming cynical about banks, governments, and taxes instead of redirecting the underlying energy toward giving in charity and serving Kṛṣṇa.
Discussion Prompts
  • Share one specific way you are currently behaving like the honeybee in this verse — accumulating what you will not enjoy — and let the group press you on why.
  • Prabhupāda lists banks, stocks, kidnappers, investment counselors, and taxes as today's artha-vit; which of these do you secretly trust to protect you, and what would it mean to stop?
  • Where is the honest line for a householder between responsible saving for family and the greedy accumulation this verse condemns — and do you all agree on where it falls?
Role Play

One student plays a successful professional who has just received a large bonus and is deciding between investing it, upgrading the house, or giving a significant portion in Kṛṣṇa's service; another plays a Gauḍīya friend who has read SB 11.8.15 that morning. Run the conversation until a concrete decision is reached, then have the group critique whether the decision was honeybee logic or artha-vit-proof.

Objections & Responses
  • This verse sounds like a recipe for poverty — if I do not accumulate, how will I support my family, educate my children, and care for aging parents?
    The verse does not forbid earning or saving; it condemns greedy accumulation that is neither enjoyed nor given. A Gauḍīya householder earns honestly, maintains dependents as a sacred duty, and channels the surplus into Kṛṣṇa's service — that is the opposite of the bee, who works frantically only to be robbed.
  • Modern financial instruments — diversified portfolios, insurance, trusts — really do protect wealth, so the bee analogy is outdated.
    Prabhupāda directly addresses this in the purport: banks, stocks, and properties only seem secure, but capitalistic nations are challenged by enemies, children are kidnapped, counselors steal, and governments tax — and finally Kṛṣṇa Himself says mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham (BG 10.34), I come as death and take everything. No instrument outlasts that artha-vit.
📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

← Read full Chapter 8