aṇubhyaś ca mahadbhyaś ca
Å›Ästrebhyaḥ kuÅ›alo naraḥ
sarvataḥ sÄram ÄdadyÄt
puṣpebhya iva ṣaṭpadaḥ

 aṇubhyaḥ - from the smallest; ca - and; mahadbhyaḥ - from the greatest; ca - also; Å›Ästrebhyaḥ - from religious scriptures; kuÅ›alaḥ - intelligent; naraḥ - a man; sarvataḥ - from all; sÄram - the essence; ÄdadyÄt - should take; puá¹£pebhyaḥ - from the flowers; iva - like; á¹£aá¹­padaḥ - the honeybee.


Text

Just as the honeybee takes nectar from all flowers, big and small, an intelligent human being should take the essence from all religious scriptures.

Purport

In human society the original knowledge is called Veda, and the essential part of veda, or knowledge, is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. As stated in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (15.15), vedaiÅ› ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ. From the honeybee, an intelligent human being should learn to take the essence, or nectar, of all knowledge. A honeybee does not waste its time trying to carry away an entire bush or garden, but rather takes the essential nectar. We may thus study the difference between the honeybee and the ass, who carries heavy loads. Education does not mean to become an intellectual ass carrying heavy loads of useless knowledge; rather, one should accept the essential knowledge that leads to an eternal life of bliss and understanding.

At the present time people generally have a sectarian concept of religion, and yet there is no scientific understanding of the Absolute Truth. Such complacent, dogmatic, sectarian religionists can certainly learn something from the example of the honeybee given in this verse.