Chapter 3: Karma Yoga – Transforming All Activities into Yoga: Verse 12
इष्टान्भोगान्हि वो देवा दास्यन्ते यज्ञभाविता: ।
तैर्दत्तानप्रदायैभ्यो यो भुङ्क्ते स्तेन एव स: ।।
iṣṭān-bhogān-hi vo devā dāsyante yajña-bhāvitā:
tair-dattān-apradāyaibhyo yo bhuṅkte stena eva sa: – 3.12
Propitiated by Yajña, they will shower on you the desired objects of delight. Whoever enjoys whatever they have given, without giving them anything reciprocally, is indeed a thief.
Chapter 3: Karma Yoga – Transforming All Activities into Yoga - Verse 12
Swami Nirviseshananda Tirtha
Krishna pronounces a warning as well as an assessment. Life on earth is not singular or individual-based. In every facet, it is collective and mutual. This fact should be recognized and expressed in our life in every aspect.
Earth is our common mother. She bears us throughout. Always we enjoy the bounties of earth and of the surrounding celestial bodies. Air, water, sunlight, moonlight, vegetables, shade – all these come under them.
Not to display fondness and gratitude to them makes human life ungrateful and vicious. Krishna wants to avoid this plight. Fill your life with nobility, grace and grandeur, he says. Be grateful to Nature and all that Nature consists of. Express it liberally by fondness and hearty offerings. Otherwise, you will verily be a thief, robbing Nature’s bounties, desecrating them, making them unsuitable for the use of future generations.
