The verse and its meaning · Uddhava Gita · Uddhava Gita — Worship

Shared Guilt of Theft

Bhagavata Purana 11.27.54

यः स्वदत्तां परैर्दत्तां हरेत सुरविप्रयोः । वृत्तिं स जायते विड्भुग् वर्षाणां अयुतायुतम् ॥ कर्तुश्च सारथेहेतोः अनुमोदितुरेव च । कर्मणां भागिनः प्रेत्य भूयो भूयसि तत्फलम्

Meaning · English

Whoever seizes the livelihood set aside for the gods and for brahmins is born as an eater of filth for ten thousand times ten thousand years. This holds whether he gave that livelihood himself or others gave it. The one who does the deed, the one who helps bring it about, and the one who merely approves all share in its fruit after death. The larger the part each plays, the larger the fruit.

Krishna is closing his instructions on building and endowing a temple with a warning. Three words carry it. Vritti is livelihood, from vrit, to turn or sustain: the income that keeps worship going and feeds those who serve it. Karma is the deed, from kri, to do. Bhagin is a sharer, from bhaj, to share in, the same root as bhakti. Krishna says a person who takes such an endowment is born as an eater of filth for an immense span of years. It makes no difference whether the person gave the endowment himself or someone else did. Once given, it no longer belongs to the giver. Then he widens the circle. The one who acts, the one who helps, and the one who only approves all become sharers in the deed. The last line grades the result by the size of the part played. The commentators read it as guilt that runs from the hand that takes to the mind that consents. Krishna gives it here because he has just praised endowing worship. Gifts made to sustain it are protected as strongly as the gift is praised. What it asks of the listener is honesty about trust property, and honesty about one's own silence when others handle it badly.

A grain jar is kept in a village for the evening lamp. One man skims it, a second holds the door while he does, and a third watches and says nothing against it. When the lamp goes dark, all three have a hand in it, though not an equal one.

1. Today, name one thing you hold in trust for others: a shared fund, a neighbour's key, an offering meant for the household shrine. 2. Check that it is intact. If you have borrowed even a small amount, return it today. 3. Notice one moment this week when you nod along to a small shortcut with something shared. Say quietly that you will not take part.

A man sits on the committee of a small neighbourhood temple. At the monthly meeting, someone proposes using the festival fund for a relative's urgent repair, to be paid back later. Heads nod. The treasurer stays quiet because he does not want a quarrel. Krishna's teaching changes this moment in three steps. The fund is no longer the committee's to spend, even if the committee collected it. The proposer is not the only one answerable, since helping with the paperwork or nodding also counts. The treasurer's silence is the first place the teaching reaches. In ordinary experience, groups drift into wrong acts mostly because each member assumes someone else will object. A person who speaks first often makes it easier for the rest to speak. The teaching does not promise that speaking up will be welcomed, that the relative's trouble will be solved, or that the committee will agree. It also gives no way to measure guilt exactly. The fruit after death is Krishna's teaching about the deed, not something that can be checked from the meeting room.

अर्थ · हिन्दी

In this book

• Before: Worship Beyond Reward · Bhagavata Purana 11.27.52
• All of Uddhava Gita · Ask Krishna about it

Sacred Sargam

The sacred texts with their meaning, read aloud, with Ask Krishna, a Panchang and bhajans. Free, on the web and as an app. Open Sacred Sargam