tumi ta' Ä«Å›vara, muñi — ká¹£udra jÄ«va chÄra
eka-grÄsa mÄdhukarÄ« karaha aá¹…gÄ«kÄra
tumi - You; ta' - certainly; Ä«Å›vara - the Supreme Personality of Godhead; muñi - I; ká¹£udra jÄ«va - insignificant living being; chÄra - worthless; eka-grÄsa - one small quantity; mÄdhu-karÄ« - as collected by the bees; karaha - please do; aá¹…gÄ«kÄra - accept.
“You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whereas I am a most insignificant living being. Therefore please accept a little quantity of food from my house.â€
A sannyÄsÄ« is expected to collect a little food from each and every householder. That is to say, he should take whatever he requires to eat. This system is called mÄdhukarÄ«. The word mÄdhukarÄ« comes from the word madhukara and means “honey-collecting bees.†Bees collect a little honey from each flower, but all these small quantities of honey accumulate to become a beehive. SannyÄsÄ«s should collect a little from each and every householder and should eat simply what is necessary to maintain the body. Being a sannyÄsÄ«, Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu could collect a little food from the house of SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹á¹ÄcÄrya, and this was the Bhaá¹á¹ÄcÄrya’s request. Compared to the food eaten by the Lord on other occasions, the Bhaá¹á¹ÄcÄrya’s feast was not even a morsel. This is what the Bhaá¹á¹ÄcÄrya is pointing out to the Lord.
