Gita 03.12 – Secular humanism makes humans honest thieves

Audio Link: https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/gita-03-12-secular-humanism-makes-humans-honest-thieves/

iṣṭān bhogān hi vo devā
dāsyante yajña-bhāvitāḥ
tair dattān apradāyaibhyo
yo bhuṅkte stena eva saḥ (Bg 3.12)

Word-for-word:
iṣṭān — desired; bhogān — necessities of life; hi — certainly; vaḥ — unto you; devāḥ — the demigods; dāsyante — will award; yajña-bhāvitāḥ — being satisfied by the performance of sacrifices; taiḥ — by them; dattān — things given; apradāya — without offering; ebhyaḥ — to these demigods; yaḥ — he who; bhuṅkte — enjoys; stenaḥ — thief; eva — certainly; saḥ — he.

Translation:
In charge of the various necessities of life, the demigods, being satisfied by the performance of yajña [sacrifice], will supply all necessities to you. But he who enjoys such gifts without offering them to the demigods in return is certainly a thief.

Explanation:
iṣṭān bhogān hi vo devāḥ: Whatever we need, whatever we desire, whatever is dear to us, the devatās
dāsyante yajña-bhāvitāḥ: will provide, being satisfied by our performance of sacrifice.
tair dattān apradāyaibhyo: But if we, on our part, do not offer them sacrifices in return,
yo bhuṅkte stena eva saḥ: one who enjoys thus is certainly a thief.

The word ‘stena’ used in this verse is a strong term—it means “thief” or “one who steals.” Asteya, or non-stealing, is a foundational principle of yoga. Now, who is considered a thief here? Kṛṣṇa explains that one who takes the universal resources without acknowledging the arrangers of those resources—namely, the devatās—is indeed a thief.

Now, consider a situation where a group of people have lost their way in a forest and suddenly come upon a palace. They enter the palace. There doesn’t seem to be anyone around, and they see an abundant supply of food. They start helping themselves—sitting on the easy chairs, turning on the televisions, surfing the net, feasting on the food, and having a jolly good time.

Obviously, such a palace doesn’t exist by itself, by chance—and certainly, it wouldn’t be stocked with necessities and luxuries by accident. It’s only natural that they should enquire: “Where have these supplies come from?”

If they don’t enquire, and later on the owner arrives and says, “You have to pay the bill,” and they respond, “Why should we pay? You weren’t here. We didn’t see you,” the owner can rightly say: “Well, whether I was physically present or not, and whether you saw me or not, is immaterial. You entered my house and have been using my supplies—without even thanking me, without seeking my permission, and without acknowledging my presence. That is definitely culpable.”

Similarly, when we come into this world, we find that it is already equipped with a vast array of resources. We need air, light, heat, water, and food—and all of these are pre-provided in nature. While we may have to make some effort to access them, it is not our endeavor that produces these necessities. Our effort is primarily to bring these needs to ourselves—it is not to create the needs themselves.

There is a significant difference between ‘making’ something and ‘getting’ it. Our efforts do not generate the essentials of life. It is not by our endeavor that grains grow. It is not by our effort that seeds, from which grains sprout, are created. The mechanisms for these processes are already present in nature.

The seeds come from a previous yield, and we simply make use of what nature already provides. The natural mechanisms and resources exist independently—we merely engage with them through specific processes to obtain the desired results.

Just as guests in a palace kitchen may find raw materials and cook a grand feast, they might take credit for having prepared the meal—but they cannot take credit for owning the palace or possessing the ingredients that were already present. Similarly, in this world, we cannot claim that the things around us belong to us.

If someone says, “I am going to make something,” then they must begin, first of all, by creating the atoms and molecules that form the elements, which in turn form the chemicals that eventually become the substances we use. But no one can start from absolute scratch.

In that sense, nobody is truly the ‘maker’ of things. We are merely ‘acquirers’ or ‘modifiers’. Our endeavor is to access, combine, and reshape what already exists—not to create it from nothing.

Just as a person who uses someone else’s palace and its resources to make something must acknowledge the owner and offer proper compensation—saying, “I have used your resources—I will pay you for them. I have used your kitchen and your ingredients, so I will compensate you accordingly”—similarly, when we use the resources of nature, we must recognize that they are not independent or self-existent.

Nature does not function autonomously—she is the consort of the Lord. The Lord has established a system of universal governance, in which various devatās (demigods) are assigned specific departmental responsibilities. Therefore, it is essential for us to understand that we too have our duties to perform within this system.

If we neglect these responsibilities and continue to enjoy the resources without acknowledgement or offering, we are not just being ungrateful—we are, in fact, becoming thieves.

Even if a group of picnickers enters the palace and equitably distributes the food they find—saying, “There are ten of us and five apples in the fridge, so let each of us take half an apple”—their effort to be fair is, at one level, commendable. They are not giving in to greed, and refraining from taking more than their share is certainly good.

However, at a deeper level, the core issue remains—the apples were not theirs to distribute in the first place—whether equally or unequally. The property does not belong to them. So, even if they act fairly among themselves, the act itself is still rooted in dishonesty.

This is what is meant by “honesty among thieves.” If a group steals something and then divides it equally, that internal fairness does not justify the theft. From a broader perspective, the fundamental problem is not how they divide what they took, but the fact that it wasn’t theirs to begin with.

Similarly, even if we decide to live equitably in this world—ensuring fair distribution and peaceful coexistence among ourselves—that alone is not a sufficient basis for living properly. It is not enough to live in harmony with one another—we must also live in harmony with the one who has provided everything in this world.

Unfortunately, in today’s world, the ethos of secular humanism is extremely prominent and dominant. Secular humanism essentially exiles God and religion, placing humanity at the center of existence and making it the sole focus of purpose.

This secular humanistic outlook is misleading, as it reduces humans to robbers. By failing to acknowledge the role that nature—and the Lord of nature—play in providing both the necessities and the luxuries that sustain life, secular humanists, like everyone else, continue to live off resources they did not create or own.

By studying the wisdom of the Bhagavad-gītā and understanding the profound philosophy it offers, one gains a far deeper and more meaningful understanding of the world than the secular humanistic outlook provides. The secular humanistic perspective does not seriously ponder the question—”Where do things come from?” Instead, it simply takes things as they are and uses them for personal purposes.

From the standpoint of jurisprudence or law, this approach is akin to going somewhere and taking possessions without acknowledging the owner—that is thievery. This is precisely what Kṛṣṇa is referring to when He says, “stena eva saḥ”—such a person is a thief.

The way to avoid being such thieves is by following the culture that was established at the time of the Bhagavad-gītā. In that era, specific yajñas were performed to satisfy the devatās—as Kṛṣṇa says, “te devā bhāvayantu vaḥ” (Bg 3.11), meaning we must also satisfy the demigods. However, in Kali Yuga, such sacrifices are impractical.

Therefore, the sacrifice recommended for this age is the chanting of the holy names—yajñānāṁ japa-yajño ’smi (Bg 10.25). By engaging in this yajña, we can avoid becoming thieves and live in harmony with the universal governance established by the Lord.

Thank you.