[INDOLOGY] Question on amākṣika madhu in MBh 5.62.23

[Dan Lusthaus]

You may want to look at the Agañña sutta, #27 in the Dīgha Nikāya. That sutta contains a cosmogonic myth about how rarified beings early in the world cycle became increasingly cruder, starting with the flowing essence of earth gelling into something like the skin that forms on milk when on is cooking it. It is the color of ghee or butter and sweet like the honey that bees make. But it is not made by bees. When they eat and enjoy it, their bodies and habit become more course and their life spans shorten. The vocabulary is not the same as the Mahābhāratā passage, but the idea is.

The Pāli text can be read online here: https://suttacentral.net/dn27/pli/ms

The T.W. Rhys-Davids translation (roughly a century old now) is online here https://suttacentral.net/dn27/en/tw-caf_rhysdavids

Good luck,
Dan


> On Sep 16, 2026, at 11:27 AM, Martin Straube via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:


> 
> Dear Patrick,
> 
> One meight assume that it means "free from bees", "not contaminated with (dead) bees"; cf. Skt. nirmakṣika (https://nws.uzi.uni-halle.de). However, In this case one would rather expect amakṣika. Did you check the critical edition of the Mbh?
> 
> Best wishes
> Martin Straube
> 
> 
> patrick mccartney via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> schrieb am Mittwoch, 16. September 2026 um 08:44:
> 
>> Dear Friends,
>> 
>> I'm curious about amākṣika in the following passage of the Mahābhārata:
>> 
>>> vayaṃ kirātaiḥ sahitā gacchāmo girim uttaram
>>> brāhmaṇair devakalpaiś ca vidyājambhakavātikaiḥ
>>> 
>>> kuñjabhūtaṃ giriṃ sarvam abhito gandhamādanam
>>> dīpyamānauṣadhigaṇaṃ siddhagandharvasevitam
>>> 
>>> tatra paśyāmahe sarve madhu pītam amākṣikam
>>> maruprapāte viṣame niviṣṭaṃ kumbhasaṃmitam
>>> 
>>> āśīviṣair rakṣyamāṇaṃ kuberadayitaṃ bhṛśam
>>> yat prāśya puruṣo martyo 'maratvaṃ nigacchati
>>> 
>>> acakṣur labhate cakṣur vṛddho bhavati vai yuvā
>>> iti te kathayanti sma brāhmaṇā jambhasādhakāḥ.
>> 
>> The usual interpretation seems to be a-mākṣika “not bee-derived,” but I am wondering whether there is more to the terminology. Madhu has a much wider semantic range than simply “honey,” including Soma, sweet/intoxicating liquids, nectar, etc.; moreover, the passage places the madhu immediately after a description of medicinal plants and has it guarded by venomous snakes before attributing to it rejuvenating and immortalizing powers.
>> 
>> There are also parallel passages:
>> 
>>> amākṣikaṃ mahāvīryaṃ puṭake puṭake madhu
>>> Kūrmapurāṇa 1.27.33; Liṅgapurāṇa 1.39.28
>> 
>> and:
>> 
>>> vṛkṣāṃs tān paryagṛhṇanta madhu cāmākṣikaṃ balāt
>>> Kūrmapurāṇa 1.27.35
>> 
>> Could amākṣika have a technical/material sense beyond “non-bee honey”? I am particularly interested in whether there are relevant commentarial, lexical, medical, or śleṣa/saṃdhyābhāṣā interpretations.
>> 
>> All the best,
>> Patrick McCartney, PhD
>> Hiroshima, Japan
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> 
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