Summary:
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 12: The deities (different aspects of Ishvara) sustain and bless your life every moment without your awareness. If you benefit from these gifts without gratitude, prayers, or offerings, Krishna calls you a thief. You're expected to recognize and honor the sources of blessings and give back – not for the deities' sake, but for your own good, as it reduces the sense of being a limited individuality. Having been given a human body with free will, your regular instalments is recognition of the Giver, as nothing comes for free. This relationship with Ishvara is crucial – why would Ishvara give moksha to a thief who dismisses the key holder?
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 13: Krishna contrasts two attitudes toward action. The way of yajña involves acknowledging an intelligent order throughout ordinary activities like eating, helping dissolve duality between eater and eaten. When you see food as divine leftovers (yajña-śiṣṭa) and extend gratitude to sun, rain, earth, and body as manifestations of Ishvara, it serves as prayashcitta-karma, negating unavoidable violations (pāpa) from activities like cleaning or walking. The way of selfish action means eating without acknowledgement of Ishvara in form of cooks, soil, farmers – making every bite an act of theft, accumulating karmic debt by reinforcing doership (kartṛtva) and sense of separation while failing to honor the deities that provided.
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 14: The verse shifts perspective from seeing ourselves as isolated individuals to recognizing our role in cosmic ecology. Living beings come from food consumed by parents, food comes from rain, rain comes from yajña (unseen consequences of acknowledgement and gratitude), and yajña comes from actions like karma-yoga and expressing gratitude to natural forces. Many assume others will perform duties so they don't need to participate, but Krishna considers these non-participants thieves incurring papa. Everyone is expected to participate in the cosmic wheel.
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 15: The verse aims to shift perspective from viewing laws and cause-effects as mere mechanical processes to seeing them as expressions of all-knowledge and all-power – direct instructions from the Lord. Veda belongs to humanity at large as Ishvara's universal knowledge, functioning as śabda pramāṇa (verbal testimony) that transmits truths not accessible through perception or inference. Unlike empirical knowledge that evolves through revision, Veda's knowledge is apauruṣeya (not of a person) and anādi (without beginning), requiring no proof because it works once put to use. Veda contains both apara-vidya (partial, additive knowledge for limited ends) and para-vidya (subtractive knowledge revealing the partless whole of Ishvara and Consciousness). Since yajna comes from Veda and Veda from Ishvara, yajna actions are pure – straight from God without man-made contamination.
Revision:
Verse 9: Deepening Connection to Ishvara Through Yajna
Yajna Definition:
Any physical action that acknowledges Ishvara's presence. Purpose is to reduce sense of isolation (happens when start to see world as mere material), by bringing divinity into your life. EG: With gratitude, relating with an idol, or karma-yoga by seeing each situation is opportunity to learn something, do something different — see it as not outside Ishvara's order.
Examples of decline when yajna left: Rajneesh (Osho) began as a philosophy professor seeking truth but gradually lost spiritual grounding as his Oregon commune amassed wealth, advising promiscuity, etc.
Yajna helps you become free from unnatural attachment:
Problem isn't attachment itself, but rather the way we convert natural attachment (or love) into something unnatural through our projections (pedestalizing the object) and fears (catastrophizing it's loss or imagining you can't live without it).
True freedom comes not from abandoning attachment – but from returning our attachments to their natural, healthy state — where we love without clinging, and care without controlling.
Verse 11: Deities/Gods/Devas = poetical name for forces of nature that help you
Krishna says propitiate the deities (forces that help you live) with this yajna. EG: Digestion-deva. Prana-deva. Blood-pressure-deva. Memory-deva, surya-deva (sight/clarity). Agni-deva (speech).
So deities are a way of relating to observed laws-and-orders as intelligent entities — manifestations of the Ishvara. In short: Deities is means of devotion.
NEXT VERSE: Taking without gratitude or contribution makes you a thief…
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 12:
You're a thief when don't express gratitude
इष्टान् भोगान् हि वः देवाः दास्यन्ते यज्ञ-भाविताः ।
तैः दत्तान् अप्रदाय एभ्यः यः भुङ्क्ते स्तेनः एव सः ॥ ३-१२॥
iṣṭān bhogān hi vaḥ devāḥ dāsyante yajña-bhāvitāḥ ।
taiḥ dattān apradāya ebhyaḥ yaḥ bhuṅkte stenaḥ eva saḥ ॥ 3-12॥
The deities, propitiated by yajña, will give you desirable objects. One who enjoys objects given by them without offering to them in return is indeed a thief.
You're a thief if don't honor the deities (forces that help you survive)…
The gods (deities or cosmic forces representing Īśvara) sustain and bless your life every moment without your awareness. If you’re benefiting from these gifts without gratitude, prayers, or offerings – Krishna calls you a thief (one who benefits without acknowledging or reciprocating).
Meaning you’re not only expected to recognize and honor the sources of blessings (nature, society, laws) – but give back.
You're not propitiating for deities sake, but your sake…
Additionally, you’re not doing this for the deities, as they don’t need you – but for your own good, because it reduces the sense of being a limited individuality, isolated, living in scarcity. In truth you are the whole. So propitiation (acknowledgement) is a preliminary step in the direction of what you are.
EG: It’s easy to say, “I don’t have to”, but that statement implies, “I am bigger then Ishvara, don't need the Lord's help to cross the ocean of samsara”.
Your regular instalments for being given a human body…
Because you've been given a human body with free will, which is the highest in hierarchy of species — your regular instalments is recognition of the Giver. Nothing comes for free.
This verse shows why having a relationship with Ishvara is crucial. For instance, why would Ishvara give moksha to a thief who wants the final reality, while dismissing the key holder, Ishvara, who gives it?
NEXT VERSE: Two attitudes you can take towards action. One of them makes you a thief and incurs sin, the other give punya…
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 13:
Two attitudes towards actions…
यज्ञ-शिष्ट आशिनः सन्तः मुच्यन्ते सर्व-किल्बिषैः ।
भुञ्जते ते तु अघं पापाः ये पचन्ति आत्म-कारणात् ॥ ३-१३॥
yajña-śiṣṭa āśinaḥ santaḥ mucyante sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ ।
bhuñjate te tu aghaṃ pāpāḥ ye pacanti ātma-kāraṇāt ॥ 3-13॥
Those who eat, having first offered the food to the Lord, are released from impurities, whereas those sinful people who cook only for themselves eat pāpa (sin).
Kṛṣṇa contrasts two attitudes toward action (karma):
1) The Way of Yajña (you first offer your gratitude and acknowledgement of Ishvara’s presence – then receive)
Just as in a dream, everything is the dreamer (you) – similarly, everything in this empirical universe is Īśvara.
This view – even if you haven't grasped it completely – helps you acknowledge an intelligent order operable throughout mundane or ordinary things like “eating food”. This in turn helps shake up the illusion of separateness, helping dissolve duality between the eater and the eaten.
For example: From now on, when you eat at home or a restaurant – acknowledge and extend your gratitude (mentally) to the sun for contributing to the food, the rain for watering crops, the earth for bearing fruit, the linguists that concocted your mother tongue which you're using to pray, and your body (the eater of the food). See them all manifestation of Ishvara.
Benefit of this practice is it offsets all the subtle karmic consequences [kilbiṣa] generated in the process of eating. For example, just to drive the car to the mall, carbon emissions were emitted, insects were killed, garbage is added to landfills.
When you see food as divine leftovers [yajña-śiṣṭa], it serves as prayashcitta-karma, negating the unavoidable violations [pāpa] you’ve accumulated from activities like cleaning, walking, or preparing food.
2) Way of Selfish Action (Eating Pāpa)
You gain sin to your karmic account when you get right into eating, without acknowledgement of Ishvara in form of cooks, soil, farmers, etc – that made it possible. From thereon, every bite is an act of theft, because a thief has been defined as one who enjoys without offering in return.
Krishna says in this case you eat pāpa. Meaning, you accumulate karmic debt because you reinforce doership (kartṛtva) or sense of separation, but also failed the basic duty of honoring the deities that provided.
NEXT VERSE: Krishna demonstrates how your actions affect the whole cosmos…
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 14:
Cycle of cause-effect
अन्नात् भवन्ति भूतानि पर्जन्यात् अन्न-सम्भवः ।
यज्ञात् भवति पर्जन्यः यज्ञः कर्म-समुद्भवः ॥ ३-१४॥
annāt bhavanti bhūtāni parjanyāt anna-sambhavaḥ ।
yajñāt bhavati parjanyaḥ yajñaḥ karma-samudbhavaḥ ॥ 3-14॥
Living beings are born of food; food is born of rain; rain is born of yajña (puṇya); and yajña (puṇya) is born of action.
Purpose of Verse:
Verse wants to shift our perspective from seeing ourselves as isolated individuals to recognizing our role in the cosmic ecology.
The Cosmic Wheel Hierarchy:
1. Life comes from Food:
Living beings come into existence through food consumed by parents. Food serves as the material cause for the physical aspects of the body.
2. Food comes from Rain:
Without rain, there would be no food — the earth would be reduced to desert.
3. Rain comes from Yajña:
Rain is born of yajna. Yajna here, doesn’t refer to ritual itself, but to unseen consequences of your acknowledgement and gratitude of cosmic forces.
Also “rain” can be interpreted as that which is good for you (such as clarity, peace of mind). Thus, that which is good for you, comes from yajna (your gratitude, prayers, karma-yoga, propitiation of the deities).
“Rain” can also be taken literally. Because in early times, there were no dams. Rain was absolutely crucial for survival and growth of crops. So Krishna is using “rain” to bring his point across — in order to receive what is crucial, you need to live in harmony with the universe through yajna.
Otherwise there's no scientific proof of rituals (such as those of Hopi/Zuni of South America or Aborigine Shamans) inducing rain, as rain is a complex phenomena involving air pressure, temperature, condensation, etc.
4. Yajna comes from Action:
Actions include:
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- Karma-Yoga
- Expressing gratitude to natural forces – such as rain, recognizing it as a blessing to the plants and animals, rather then a mere weather event. The sun for providing life to all. The air for keeping you alive.
Individual Responsibility:
Many people assume that since others will perform the duties, so they don't need to. Similar to chorus singing where individual mistakes, or non-participation go unnoticed. Kṛṣṇa considers these non-participants thieves, incurring papa.
This means there's no free rides in existence. Everyone is expected to participate. Else you're a parasite to the cosmic wheel. Every effect (rain, food, life) traces back to a cause (action, prayer, duty). Neglect your contribution, and you disrupt the cosmic order. Your choices (to act, nor act, act differently) ripple through the chain.
NEXT VERSE: Krishna shows all beneficial actions that help you, come from Veda, and Veda from Ishvara…
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 15:
Yajna comes from Veda
कर्म ब्रह्म-उद्भवं विद्धि ब्रह्म अक्षर-समुद्भवम् ।
तस्मात् सर्वगतं ब्रह्म नित्यं यज्ञे प्रतिष्ठितम् ॥ ३-१५॥
karma brahma-udbhavaṃ viddhi brahma akṣara-samudbhavam ।
tasmāt sarvagataṃ brahma nityaṃ yajñe pratiṣṭhitam ॥ 3-15॥
May you understand karma (ritual, prayer, etc.) to be born of the Veda and the Veda to be born of the imperishable Īśvara. Therefore, the all pervasive Brahma (the Veda) abides always in yajña.
Purpose of verse:
Science has contributed to making people view laws-orders and cause-effect relationships as mere inert mechanical processes. This takes away emotion, reverentially, and child like wonder and appreciation of life. It becomes about mere factual exchange of data.
So the verse aims to shift your perspective — viewing rituals and their cause-effects as expressions of all-knowledge, all-power — direct instructions from the Lord how to live a prosperous, meaningful life. This is something you can't prove until you being living the vision of the Veda, as described below…
Veda is Universal:
Veda belongs to humanity at large, not to any individual or culture. Veda isn't Indian. It's Ishvara's.
One example showing how Veda is universal: It reveals the puruṣārthas (four aims of life: artha, kāma, dharma, mokṣa) — making it universal in practical terms, because it encompasses every possible goal.
Veda is a Śabda Pramāṇa (Verbal Testimony):
The Veda functions as a pramāṇa (means of knowledge), which transmits truths not accessible through perception or inference. It reveals “what-is” — facts that exist independently of human cognition, such as the nature of the self (ātmā) or cosmic order (ṛta) such as dharma.
Unlike empirical knowledge (e.g., scientific theories), which evolves through incremental “scraping” and revision — the Veda’s knowledge is apauruṣeya (“not of a person”) and anādi (without beginning) — arising directly from Īśvara’s omniscience. Veda requires no proof because it's teachings are self-evident once ignorance (ajñāna) is removed. The only proof Vedas needs is, it works once you put it to use.
Veda contains two types of knowledges:
- Apara-vidya / parokṣa-jñāna : For giving limited ends. Thus it’s always partial. It’s additive. Reveals parts, thus always keeps you in ignorance. Also when you know it, it’s subject to negation from different standpoints and future discoveries. EG: A Ph.D. thesis scraping “spots” of truth, is later overturned.
- Para-vidya / aparokṣa-jñāna : For revealing something apara-vidya can’t. The knowledge of Ishvara and Consciousness. It’s subtractive. Reveals the partless whole; thus is the only type of knowledge that brings permanent satisfaction, because (a) it shows the substance of all-that-is, and (b) the knowledge doesn’t leave you ignorant.
All pervasive Brahma (Veda) abides in yajna:
Since yajna comes from the Veda, this means, the Veda abides in the yajna you do. And since Veda comes from Ishvara (which is the efficient and material cause of everything) — it means yajna actions are as pure as you can get — straight from God, without contamination of man-made biases.
Order: Ishvara → Veda (called ‘Brahma’ in verse; in this case ‘Brahma' does not refer to ‘creator’) → Yajna (harmonious actions, rituals, gratitude, karma-yoga) → Positive life results like rain, food, understanding, etc.
Practical take-away:
- The more you recognize the intelligence in every aspect of your life, the less you’re dissatisfied. You become less dependent on objects, because intelligence is in every object (the good, bad and ugly), including the air you're breathing.
- Extent to which your action enhance or disturb harmony, determines how life shows up for you. How do you want life to show up for you? If you want it to supply you with job, prosperity, lucidity, positivity — then perform yajna.
NEXT VERSE: Talks about the person whose actions are not keeping with cosmic order (called aghāyuḥ), and consequences…
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Course was based on Swami Dayananda (Arsha Vidya) home study course.
Recorded 15 June, 2025