Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 24: Rāma Instructs Kausalyā
Text 2.24.2
अदृष्टदुःखो धर्मात्मा सर्वभूतप्रियंवदः।
मयि जातो दशरथात्कथमुञ्छेन वर्तयेत्॥
adṛṣṭa-duḥkho dharmātmā sarva-bhūta-priyaṁvadaḥ
mayi jāto daśarathāt katham uñchena vartayet
adṛṣṭa-duḥkhaḥ = who have never seen sorrow; dharma-ātmā = whose mind is [always] devoted to dharma; sarva-bhūta-priyaṁvadaḥ = and who speaks pleasingly to all creatures; mayi = to me; jātaḥ = [You] born; daśarathāt = and King Daśaratha; katham = how; uñchena = on uñcha; vartayet = can subsist.
How can [You], born to me and King Daśaratha, who have never seen sorrow, whose mind is [always] devoted to dharma, and who speaks pleasingly to all creatures, subsist on uñcha?
Uñcha refers to [the vow of] collecting rice and other grains that have naturally fallen [off the fields], one by one using one’s fingers. Gathering the spikes of corns is [another vow named] śila. Uñcha refers to gathering fruits, roots and so on.
NOTE. The uñcha vow is famous in Vedic literature. Here is a description of a person who had adopted it:
eṣa mūla-phalāhāraḥ śīrṇa-parṇāśanas tathā
ab-bhakṣo vāyu-bhakṣaś ca āsīd vipraḥ samāhitaḥ
“This brāhmaṇa ate roots and fruits. He also ate fallen leaves. He was attentive [in his vows], drinking water and subsisting on the wind [alone].” (Mahābhārata 12.351.2)