Patanjali Yoga Sutra — अपरिग्रहस्थैर्ये जन्मकथन्तासम्बोधः॥2.39॥
aparigrahasthairye janmakathantāsambodhaḥ॥
On being resolutely committed to abstaining from greed and possessions, sādhaka would crack the secrets of creation, birth, death, reincarnation and the like.
Bhāgavatam warns against the practice of hoarding with the analogy of honeybees:
सायन्तनं श्वस्तनं वा न सङ्गृह्णीत भिक्षितम्।
पाणिपात्रोदरामत्रो मक्षिकेव न सङ्ग्रही॥ भागवतम् ११.८.११॥
A saint should never ever hoard the food (obtained by begging) for the evening or for tomorrow. He should use his own hands as plates and eat whatever can be placed on them. Obviously the storage container is just one’s stomach. Thus one should avoid imitating voracious honeybees that are keen on collecting more honey than what is required to survive (honey stored beyond necessity is robbed away by other animals/man/creatures) .
सातन्तनं श्वस्तनं वा न सङ्गृह्णित भिक्षुकः।
मक्षिका इव सङ्गृह्णन् सह तेन विनश्यति॥ भागवतम् ११.८.१२॥
A saint should never hoard foodstuffs/eatables so that he could consume them later on the same day or tomorrow. If this scriptural injunction is disrespected, he would be annihilated completely like a honeybee that collects honey beyond the present requirement.
A sanyāsi (saint) is possession-less and so does a beggar. Then what is the difference between them? The former is possession-less because of rejection and renunciation, whereas the latter remains without belongings owing to the inability to own, though the desire to own is not dead. Rejection of possessions without the renunciation of desires is hypocrisy. So long as a man is attached to worldly possessions and prosperity, he sees nothing other than the wealth before him. He is bound to wealth and gets lost in it. His freedom is also lost, as he is nothing less than a slave of his own possessions and belongings. All this worldly affluence is just transient for sādhaka and aparigraha is being free from greed and possessions. It also includes not accepting any material thing from anyone. It is said, when something is accepted from others (like gift or dāna — donation/charity), the receiver is also receiving a part of sin from the giver. A yogi who realizes that nothing is permanent in this world except Bhagavān (Supreme Soul) and the goal of life is to realize such Paramātma within one Self, finds no pleasure in worldly wealth.
How nice it would have been if affluence should give us more leisure time; and that free time is used for sādhana! Is it possible to enjoy without possession? Yes, say our yogis. Enjoy the sunrise without possessing the sun. Enjoy the cool breeze without owning. In the hot sun, enjoy the shade of a tree without possessing that tree. Enjoy the beauty of a flower without plucking from the plant. Enjoy the rain without owning the clouds. Enjoy the melodious singing of a cuckoo without owing that bird, enjoy the magnificent dance of a peacock without possessing that bird. If you possess these birds and put them in a confinement, they may not sing or dance at all.
Bhāgavata explains the importance of aparigraha as under:
सामिषं कुररं जघ्नुर्बलिनोऽन्ये निरामिषाः।
तदामिषं परित्यज्य स सुखं समविन्दत॥११.९.२॥
Sāmiṣaṃ kuraraṃ jaghnurbalino’nye nirāmiṣāḥ|
Tadāmiṣaṃ parityajya sa sukhaṃ samavindata॥ ॥Bhāgavatam 11.9.2॥
A kurara bird was flying with a piece of meat in her beak. A group of hawks attacked her for that piece of meat in her beak. Sensing danger for life, Kurara at once drops the piece of meat and saves herself from the attacking cruel hawks.
Thus Patañjali says, on being resolutely committed to abstaining from greed and possession, sādhaka would crack the very secrets of creation, birth, death and reincarnation. He also gets the knowledge of past, present and future lives. It is said Bhagavān Buddha had the knowledge of all his past lives.
यं लब्ध्वा चापरं लाभं मन्यते नाधिकं ततः।
यस्मिन्स्थतो न दुःखेन गुरुणापि विचाल्यते॥गिता ६.२२॥
yaṁ labdhvā cāparaṁ lābhaṁ manyate nādhikaṁ tataḥ.
yasminsthato na duḥkhena guruṇāpi vicālyate॥Gītā 6.22॥
On possessing ‘HIM’, the yogi finds that no other possession can match HIM and remains unmoved even by the severest of the sorrows.
Such a yogi experiences divine freedom and vision opens up, infinitely expands beyond the worldly realms.
However tasty the food might be, can we eat three to four kilos of cooked food? At the most one or one and a half kilo of cooked food, we can eat in one sitting, because the stomach or the tummy muscles cannot expand beyond that. But in the mother’s womb, baby grows beyond three kilos and when there are twins, the collective weight may reach even five kilos. Because the tummy muscles slowly expand to accommodate such growth. So does the Yogi’s mind! Yogi’s vision can expand without limitation only on attaining HIM — Supreme Soul and no other possession can give such an expansion of his vision.
