Bhikshā
Bhikshā · bhikshā, “alms”
Grammar: feminine noun, from the root bhiksh, to ask, to beg: “what is asked for”, alms. Bhikshāṭana is going about for alms.
Meaning: alms, the food that a brahmacārī, a sannyāsī or a renunciant receives from householders and lives on; going for bhikshā is part of the dharma of those āśramas.
In the scriptures: the Bhāgavata Purāṇa gives the rules of bhikshā for the brahmacārī and the sannyāsī.
The world gives bhikshā. Śuka tells Parīkshit that the one who has turned from the world need not serve the proud rich: “Are there not rags lying on the road? Do the trees, which feed other beings with their fruits, not give bhikshā? Have the rivers dried up? Are the mountain caves closed? Does Bhagavān Vishṇu not protect those who take refuge in him?” (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 2, Chapter 2).
The brahmacārī. Nārada Maharshi tells Yudhishṭhira that morning and evening the brahmacārī should go for bhikshā and offer the food to his guru. He eats it with the guru’s permission; if at some time, when he has done wrong, the guru does not give permission, he fasts that day (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 7, Chapter 12).
The sannyāsī stores nothing. In Śrī Kṛshṇa‘s teaching to Uddhava, Dattātreya Maharshi tells King Yadu what he learned from the honeybee: the sannyāsī gathers his food a little at a time from different houses without troubling the householders, and his only vessels are his hand and his belly. He must not store alms-food, saying “this for the evening, this for tomorrow”; one who stores like the honeybee perishes with what he has stored (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 11, Chapter 8).
The rules for the sannyāsī. Śrī Kṛshṇa tells Uddhava that the sannyāsī should go for bhikshā and be content with just what he receives. Leaving aside the blameworthy, he takes bhikshā at seven houses of the four varṇas, not fixed beforehand. He goes to a water-place outside the village, does ācamana, purifies the food by sprinkling and eats in silence; if anyone asks, he gives to them and eats what remains. For bhikshā he enters cities, villages, cowherd hamlets and groups of pilgrims, wandering the earth full of puṇya-kshetras and holy rivers. He is not dejected when bhikshā is not found nor glad when it is found, for both are in the hands of daiva; yet he makes effort for food, for by keeping his life and with that strength enquiring into the ātmā he gains ātma-jñāna and is freed (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 11, Chapter 18).
In the Bhavishya Purāṇa: Sumantu Muni teaches the rules of bhikshā for the brahmacārī. The upanīta brāhmaṇa, until samāvartana, keeps up tending the fire, going for bhikshā, sleeping on the ground and serving the guru, and he gathers bhikshā each day, as much as needed. Bhikshā is not to be sought in the gurukula, in the houses of kinsmen or in houses of relations. If it is not had in the houses of other gotras, he goes on from the former of those named to the later ones. If it cannot be had in the houses named, he goes through the whole village, leaving out only the houses at the end, and if it is still not found he may go to the houses of all four varṇas.
If he does not go for bhikshā or does not offer into the fire, while not ill, he must perform the Avakīrṇi vrata for seven nights. The wise say bhikshā should be his livelihood, so he must not take bhikshā from one person alone every day. This livelihood in brahmacarya is equal to an upavāsa. If invited to a pitṛ-daivatya rite he may eat as a ṛshi, as though it were a vrata, and his vow is not broken. Bhikshā and service are to be done only while study goes on with the guru (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 4).
Related terms: Bhikshu · Sannyāsa · Brahmacarya · Āśrama · Annadāna
Sources
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 2, Chapter 2; Skandha 7, Chapter 12; Skandha 11, Chapters 8, 18
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 4