SAUNDARANANDA 14.6: Each To His Own (Without Pride)

tasmaad abhyavahartavyaM
sva-shaktim anupashyataa
n' aatimaatraM na c' aatyalpaM
meyaM maana-vashaad api

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14.6
So food is to be eaten,

Each reflecting on his own energy,

And none apportioning himself too much or too little

Under the influence of pride.

COMMENT:
A key word in this verse might be sva-shakti, one's own energy. It suggests to me the principle of the individual.

Other key words in this verse, as I read it, might be anupashyat (reflecting) and maana (pride).

Reflecting on one's own energy, i.e. an individual looking at, noticing, or listening to how he or she really is, has to do with seeing things in a true perspective.

A certain kind of pride has a distorting influence on how one sees things; it might be both a cause and an effect of seeing things out of perspective.

There may be other kinds of pride that are not distorting -- for example, a worker's pride in his work, or a parent's pride in his children, or a teacher's pride in her students.

The kind of pride that is distorted and distorting, i.e. self-pride, as I have struggled to understand it over the many years since I first entered a dojo, has to do with vestibular dysfunction. It has to do with how the ears prevent the eyes from truly seeing.

Thus, when a person with a high opinion of himself feels justified in taking more than his fair share, or when a person with a spiritual agenda deprives himself of his fair share, such pride may in many cases be rooted in faulty functioning of the vestibular system.

EH Johnston:
Therefore you should eat, carefully considering your requirements, and should not measure out to yourself too much or too little under the influence of pride.

Linda Covill:
Therefore you should take food with due consideration for your own capacity. Don't apportion yourself too much or too little even if you have a strong opinion on this subject,

VOCABULARY:
tasmaad: therefore
abhyavahartavyam = gerundive of abhy-ava-√hR: to take food, eat

sva-shaktim (acc.): f. own power or strength; own energy (of a god)
shakti: f. power , ability , strength , might , effort , energy , capability
anupashyataa = inst. of anupashyat (pres. part. of anu-pash): to look at , perceive , notice , discover ; to consider , reflect upon (acc.)

na: not
atimaatra: mfn. exceeding the proper measure
na ca: not either
atyalpa: very little

meya = gerundive of √3. maa: to measure out, mete out, apportion
maana: m. opinion , notion , conception , idea; purpose , wish , design; self-conceit , arrogance , pride
vashaat (ablative of vasha, will, desire; power, dominion): ifc. , " by command of , by force of , on account of , by means of , according to "
api: also