Gita 3.12
Karma Yoga
इष्टान्भोगान्हि वो देवा दास्यन्ते यज्ञभाविताः । तैर्दत्तानप्रदायैभ्यो यो भुङ्क्ते स्तेन एव सः ॥
iṣṭān bhogān hi vo devā dāsyante yajña-bhāvitāḥ | tair dattān apradāyaibhyo yo bhuṅkte stena eva saḥ ||
In essence: To consume without contributing is cosmic theft—every enjoyment received demands an offering given, or the debt compounds silently.
A conversation between a seeker and guide to help you feel this verse deeply
Sadhak-Guru Dialogue
Sadhak: "Guruji, this feels harsh. Am I a thief every time I eat without performing ritual sacrifice?"
Guru: "Tell me—when someone hosts you for dinner and you leave without a word of thanks, how do you feel afterward?"
Sadhak: "Uncomfortable. Guilty. Like something is incomplete."
Guru: "That discomfort IS your conscience recognizing the theft. You took hospitality without completing the exchange of gratitude. Now, life itself is the ultimate host—offering air, water, food, beauty. Do you acknowledge this hospitality?"
Sadhak: "Not usually. I just assume it's there..."
Guru: "And there is the theft. Not in the failure to perform rituals, but in the failure to recognize the giving. The simplest offering is awareness itself—eating with gratitude, breathing with thankfulness. The ritualist who performs yajna mechanically without genuine acknowledgment is MORE of a thief than the simple person who whispers 'thank you' before every meal."
Sadhak: "So the theft is really in the attitude?"
Guru: "The theft is in the illusion that you exist separately—that you can take without affecting anything. The thief thinks: 'This is mine; I earned it; I owe nothing.' The wise person knows: 'Everything received is a gift from the Whole; my very capacity to receive is itself a gift.' Can you truly own what you cannot create?"
Sadhak: "But then I could never really pay back everything I've received..."
Guru: "Now you understand! This realization is itself the beginning of true offering. Not the arrogance of 'I will repay the cosmos' but the humility of 'I am forever grateful and will pass on what I can.' This gratitude-in-action IS yajna. This stops the theft. This restores the sacred balance."
Did this resonate with you? Share it with someone who needs to hear this.
🌅 Daily Practice
Before consuming anything today—your first drink, your breakfast, your shower—pause for three seconds and silently acknowledge the sources: the farmers, the water system, the sun, the earth. This small pause transforms consumption into communion.
Identify one thing you regularly 'take' without 'giving back'—perhaps a relationship, a resource, an organization. Make one conscious offering today: express gratitude to a colleague, donate to an environmental cause, volunteer briefly. Start closing one small cosmic debt.
In review, ask honestly: Was I a giver or a taker today? Not to judge yourself, but to notice the balance. Where you were primarily taking, consciously dedicate tomorrow's first action as an offering to restore balance. Remember: awareness itself begins to heal the theft.