bahūdaka

the second of four stages of sannyāsa. When a sannyāsī advances beyond the kuṭicaka stage, he no longer accepts anything from home; instead he collects his necessities from many places. This system is called madhukārī, which literally means ‘the profession of bumblebees’. As bumblebees collect honey from many flowers, so a sannyāsī should beg from door to door but not accept very much from any particular house. The bahūdaka stage has been mentioned in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.12.43). In his commentary on this śloka, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura defines the ascetic in this stage as, one who has relegated the performance of karma to a secondary position and who gives prominence to transcendental knowledge