Just as a bee in a flower
harming neither hue nor scent
gathers nectar, flies away,
so in towns a Wise One fares.
Explanation: The bee extracts honey from flowers without damaging either the colour or the fragrance of the flower and in so doing helps the tree bear much fruit. Similarly, the silent sage goes about the village collecting alms without harming anyone even minutely, and in so doing helps people gain much merit and happiness.
The Story of Kosiya, the Miserly Rich Man (Verse 49)
While residing at the Jetavana Monastery, the Buddha spoke this Verse, with reference to the chief disciple Maha Moggal-lana and the miserly rich man, Kosiya.
In the village of Sakkara, near Rajagaha, there lived a miserly rich man by the name of Kosiya, who was very reluctant to give away even the tiniest part of anything belonging to him. One day, to avoid sharing with others, the rich man and his wife were making pancakes in the uppermost story of their house, where no one would see them.
Early in the morning, on that day, the Buddha through his supernormal power, saw the rich man and his wife in his vision, and knew that both of them would soon attain sotapatti fruition. So he sent Maha Moggallana to the house of the rich man, with instructions to bring the couple to the Jetavana Monastery in time for the midday meal. By supernormal power, he reached Kosiya’s house in an instant and stood at the window.
The rich man saw him and asked him to leave. He just stood there without saying anything. In the end, Kosiya said to his wife, “Make a very small pancake and give it to the monk.” So she took just a little amount of dough and put it in the pan, and the cake filled up the whole pan. Kosiya thought his wife must have put in too much, so he took just a pinch of dough and put it into the pan; his pancake also swelled into a big one. It so happened that however little dough they put in, they were unable to make small pancakes. At last, Kosiya asked his wife to offer one from the basket to the monk.
When she tried to take out one from the basket it would not come off because all the pancakes were sticking together and could not be separated. By this time Kosiya had lost all appetite for pancakes and offered the whole basket of pancakes to Maha Moggallana. The chief disciple then delivered a discourse on charity to the rich man and his wife. He also told the couple about how the Buddha was waiting with five hundred monks at the Jetavana Monastery in Savatthi, forty-five yojanas away from Rajagaha. Maha Moggallana, by his supernormal power, then took both Kosiya and his wife together with their basket of pancakes, to the presence of the Buddha. There, they offered the pancakes to the Buddha and the five hundred monks. At the end of the meal, the Buddha delivered a discourse on charity, and both Kosiya and his wife attained sotapatti fruition.
The next evening, while the monks were talking in praise of Maha Moggallana, the Buddha came to them and said, “Monks, you should also dwell and act in the village like Maha Moggallana, receiving the offerings of the villagers without affecting their faith and generosity or their wealth”