Just like a bee leaves the flower, not hurting the color and smell,
having taken its juice, so should a wise man walk through the village.

yathā       pi    bhamaro  pupphaṃ vaṇṇa+gandhaṃ a+heṭhayaṃ
|                |          |              |            |           |         |          |
Rel.Adv. conj.   N.m.        N.n.     N.m.    N.m.    neg.   Adj.n.
|_________|     Nom.Sg.  Acc.Sg.      |      Acc.Sg.    |     Nom.Sg.
        |                  |              |             |______|         |______|
        |                  |              |__________|                     |
        |                  |                       |_________________|
        |                  |                                      |_________________________________
        |                  |_____________________________________|
        |__________________________|

List of Abbreviations

paleti           rasam ādāya evaṃ gāme       munī        care
|                     |         |         |          |             |              |
V.act.in.      N.m.  V.ger.  Adv.   N.m.      N.m.       V.act.
3.Sg.pres.  Acc.Sg.   |          |     Loc.Sg.  Nom.Sg.  3.Sg.opt.
|                    |_____|          |          |             |________|
|_____________|                |          |____________|
_______|                           |____________|
     |_________________________|

yathā, Rel.Adv.: just as.

pi, conj.: also, too.

bhamaro: bhamara-, N.m.: bee. Nom.Sg. = bhamaro.

pupphaṃ: puppha-, N.n.: flower. Acc.Sg. = pupphaṃ.

vaṇṇagandhaṃ: vaṇṇagandha-, N.m: color and smell. A compound of:
    vaṇṇa-, N.m.: color.
    gandha-, N.m.: smell.
Acc.Sg. = vaṇṇagandhaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

aheṭhayaṃ: aheṭhayant-, Adj.: not hurting. It is a negated (by the negative prefix a-) word heṭhayant-, Adj.: hurting. This is an a.pr.p. of the verb heṭh- (to hurt, to injure, to make harm). Nom.Sg. = aheṭhayaṃ.

paleti, V.: leaves. It is a contracted form of the verb palāyati (same meaning). The verb root is palāy-. 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = paleti.

rasam: rasa-, N.m.: juice. Acc.Sg. = rasam.

ādāya, V.ger.: having taken. The verb root is dā- (to give), with the prefix ā- (from).
Thus ā- + dā- (to take).

List of Abbreviations

evaṃ, Adv.: so, thus.

gāme: gāma-, N.m.: village. Loc.Sg. = gāme.

munī: muni-, N.m.: a wise man. Nom.Sg. = muni. The form munī is sometimes used in poetry.

care, V.: should walk. The verb root is car- (to walk). 3.Sg.act.opt. = care.
 
List of Abbreviations

    This verse has two parenthetic sentences:
    1) yathā pi bhamaro pupphaṃ vaṇṇagandhaṃ aheṭhayaṃ paleti rasam ādāya (just like a bee leaves the flower, not hurting the color and smell, having taken its juice). The subject of this sentence is the noun bhamaro (bee, nominative singular) and there is also a clause vaṇṇagandhaṃ ahethayaṃ (not hurting the color and smell; accusative singular; and active present participle, nominative singular). The verb is paleti (leaves, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). There is a verbal clause, rasam ādāya (having taken the juice; accusative singular; and gerundive). The object is the noun pupphaṃ (flower, accusative singular). The relative adverb yathā (just as), which forms a quite common phrase yathā pi (same meaning) with the conjunction pi (also), connects this sentence to the next one.
    2) evaṃ gāme munī care (so should a wise man walk through the village). The subject is the noun munī (wise man, nominative singular) and the verb care (should walk, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). The object is the noun gāme (through the village, locative singular). The adverb evaṃ (thus, so) connects this sentence to the previous one.

    This verse talks about the practice of alms-rounds. The monks are supposed to obtain alms food from the people, going house from house and taking something here, something there, especially from those, who have a lot. Just like a bee takes the juice from the flower but does no harm to it, so the monks should get the food from the villagers, making no harm to them by taking too much from one family or from the poor families.
    The following story is associated with this verse.
    In one village there lived a very rich but very miserly couple. One day they made some pancakes, but because they did not want to share them with others, they made them secretly.
    The Buddha saw this and sent one of his chief disciples, Moggallāna to their house. He arrived there and stood by the door. They tried to make a very small pancake and give it to him. But no matter how they tried, a small amount of dough would fill in the whole pan. Then they tried to offer him one of their own pancakes, but they were unable to separate them. So they gave him the whole basket with all their pancakes.
    Moggallāna invited them to the monastery to see the Buddha. They offered the pancakes to the Buddha and the monks. The Buddha delivered a discourse on charity and both the husband and wife attained the first stage of Awakenment.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

yathā
pi
bhamaro
pupphaṃ
vaṇṇagandhaṃ
vaṇṇa
gandhaṃ
aheṭhayaṃ
paleti
rasam
ādāya
evaṃ
gāme
munī
care