Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 3, Verse 12
इष्टान्भोगान्हि वो देवा दास्यन्ते यज्ञभाविताः।
तैर्दत्तानप्रदायैभ्यो यो भुङ्क्ते स्तेन एव सः।।
तैर्दत्तानप्रदायैभ्यो यो भुङ्क्ते स्तेन एव सः।।
iṣṭān bhogān hi vo devā dāsyante yajña-bhāvitāḥ
tair dattān apradāyaibhyo yo bhuṅkte stena eva saḥ
also searched as "ishtan bhogan hi vo deva dasyante yajna bhavitah"
Translation
The gods, pleased by the sacrifice, will bestow upon you the enjoyments you desire. He who enjoys the bounty of the gods without giving them anything in return is but a thief.
Vāṇi's rendering
Nourished, the gods give you all you enjoy. To take their gifts and give nothing back is theft.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| इष्टान्iṣṭān | desired, wished-for |
| भोगान्bhogān | enjoyments, the good things one lives on |
| हिhi | indeed, for |
| वःvaḥ | to you (plural); appears as vo before the following word |
| देवाःdevāḥ | the shining ones, the gods; appears as devā before the next word |
| दास्यन्तेdāsyante | will give, will bestow |
| यज्ञभाविताःyajña-bhāvitāḥ | nourished and sustained by offering |
| तैःtaiḥ | by them; appears as tair before the vowel |
| दत्तान्dattān | the things given |
| अप्रदायapradāya | without giving back, without returning anything |
| एभ्यःebhyaḥ | to these, to them; appears as -aibhyo through sandhi |
| यःyaḥ | he who; appears as yo before the next word |
| भुङ्क्तेbhuṅkte | eats, enjoys, consumes |
| स्तेनःstenaḥ | a thief; appears as stena before eva |
| एवeva | simply, nothing but |
| सःsaḥ | he, that one |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3 Verse 12 mean?
It says the powers that sustain life give you what you enjoy, and they are themselves sustained by what is offered back. To take endlessly and return nothing is not merely selfish — Krishna calls it stealing. The verse names receiving without giving as a broken exchange, not a private choice.
Ishtan bhogan hi vo deva dasyante — what is this verse about?
It is about circulation. The devas, nourished by yajña, hand you the enjoyments you wanted; the same act that feeds them feeds you. Krishna is describing a world that moves by giving. Step out of that movement, keep only, and you are living on what was never handed to you freely.
Why does Krishna call someone a thief here?
Because the word stena removes every comfortable excuse. A thief is not wicked in some grand way; he simply takes what is not his to keep. Krishna is not shaming Arjuna. He is showing that a life of pure consumption already has a name, and the name is unflattering.
How do I give back in daily life?
Not by ritual alone. Anything offered rather than hoarded is yajña — work done for others, food shared, attention given without invoice. The test is simple and daily: does something leave your hands unattached to return? Where that happens, the circle holds, and you are no longer merely taking.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Theft is a strong word, and Krishna chooses it deliberately. Not ingratitude, not bad manners — theft. The air you breathed this morning, the grain on your plate, the strength in your arms: none of it was made by you. It arrived. The devas here are the powers that keep the arriving going, and they are fed by what is given back into them. A life that only receives breaks the circle it lives inside. So the question is not whether you have enough. It is whether anything leaves your hands. Check what you returned today, and to whom.