VERSE NUMBER 12 OF KARMA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF ACTION OR THE METHOD OF WORK

VERSE NUMBER 12

Text in Transliteration:

Ishiaan bhogaan hi vo devaa daasyante yajnabyaavitaah

Tair dattaan apradaayai ‘nhyo yo bhurikte stena eva sah

Text in English:

“Cjerished by Yajna, the Devas shall bestow on you the enjoyments you desire.” A thief verily is he who enjoys what is given by them  without returning them anything.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

This world abounds in facilities and amenities that have come about as a result of the sacrifices of several people. The new born baby is nursed and brought up. That is “sacrifice” of the parents. The youth receives education. It comes from sacrifice made by the builders of educational institutions. The food that man consumes, the house that he lives in, the clothing that he wears, the means of transport that is available to him –all these are the outcome of sacrifices made by other people. While availing himself of all these advantages, man ought to ask himself as to how his own life is going to be useful to the others. As are one’s sacrifices so are the blessing that emanate from them. Whatever man does must be more beneficial to others than to himself. His doings become yajna in proportion to their public utility. When a balance is struck between receipts and gifts, a righteous man is he who gives more than he receives. Indebted is that man who appropriates more than he gifts. A thief is he who grabs everything and sacrifices nothing. This seemingly prosperous man ends his career as a non-entity. The enlightened do not place themselves in that pitiable position.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

When the gods are pleased with your sacrifices, they will bestow on you all the desired objects such as children, cattle, property, etc. He who enjoys what has been given to him by the gods, i.e., he who gratifies the cravings of his own body and the senses without offering anything to the gods in return is a veritable thief. He is really a dacoit of the property of the gods.   

Comments by the blogger:

This world is not for one who does not sacrifice. And the sacrifices to the elemental gods of the Rig-Veda later transcended the outwardness of the sacrifices and during the Upanishadic peried they got internalised. Even after that, the basics of the Rig-Vedic sages’ idea of selfless sacrifices to the gods have been retained in the Gita, with one proviso, that the sacrifice be the internal than the external. So we as men and women and children have a strong affinity to the universal soul. The whole universe is inside us in the form of “Idaya kuhiya” and we are made and crafted of the same five elemental stuff as the outward universe. The whole universe is within us, and when we open our eyes we can discern us all around us in the universe. So we have to know this strong affinity. If the Devas or the universal soul is not satisfied by our sacrifice after receiving from the universe rain, shine, food, etc., we become thieves if we fail to reciprocate and return them.