Third Moral Code - Never Commit a Theft (Stealing)

What is stealing?

First of all let us understand the gross meaning of stealing.

Stealing means to snatch, swindle, possess or use any of the objects like money, grains, ornaments, jewels, clothes, vehicle, land, wealth, fruits or flower secretly or against the will of the owner.

Causes and Consequences :

There are a lot of factors and elements responsible for an immoral act like stealing. The main reasons are attraction, inducement, greed, temptation, endearment and enchantment for the object; attitude of hoarding and lack of availability etc.. Tendency to show off and lack of availability are main reasons responsible for stealing. There are other powerful factors instrumental in stealing which are tendency to imitate, scarcity, unavailibility, discontent, financial problem, lack of means of entertainment, tendency to gain easily and more without putting in more efforts, ignorance, illiteracy, lack of moral values, bad company etc..

A person who steals and all those persons who inspire, encourage, consent, support, compel, help, defend or conceal the act of stealing and utilize the objects acquired through stealing are the culprits and all of them have to suffer the consequences of the act of stealing.

When a small child steals a small object for the first time from the neighbourhood, school or a shop and his parents, guardians or elders instead of scolding him, try to encourage, ignore or hide the act of stealing, the child becomes fearless and enthusiastic to repeat the act of stealing. Later on, he develops the bad habit of stealing. Gradually as he grows up, he learns to commit bigger thefts and he experiences perverse joy out of such bad habit. He begins to believe that to commit the act of stealing is a brave task. Therefore, he tries to be efficient in the art of stealing and becomes a big thief. Then it becomes very difficult to reform him. As per the saying 'you can not teach an old dog new tricks'. It is very difficult to reform such seasoned criminals. Alongwith the habit of stealing, he develops vices like violent tendencies, adultery, harmful addiction etc.. Therefore, it is advisable and unavoidable to stop a child right from the childhood from performing sins like stealing etc. by explaining him properly and if required he could be punished slightly alongwith firm attitude.

There is a law to punish a person who has committed theft. If a thief is caught red handed, people gathered around him beat him up. Then, the thief has to bear the beatings of police and he would be confined to jail. This is gross punishment for stealing.

‘स्तेनकर्म न कर्तव्यं धर्माधर्मपि केनचित’ -शिक्षापत्री

God and His saints say that theft should not be committed even to perform religious deeds. Some ignorant people believe that by donating a small part as charity from the wealth acquired by cheating, swindling or stealing, accumulated sins would be destroyed. Then it is appropriate to use the wealth for material comforts and enjoyments. This is a wrong concept. Because religious deeds performed using stolen money converts into irreligious or sinful deeds. Act of stealing is a sin. So, how could a religious deed be accomplished by committing an irreligious act? If this logic is understood, a person wouldn't feel temptation to steal to perform a religious deed. Consequences of such sinful act should be suffered. There is no doubt that stealing performed to accomplish some religious deed is more sinful then any other act of stealing, so its consequences are more severe. The owner of the object which has been stolen also curses the thief. May be he worked hard to obtain that object. If the owner also obtained the object through some wrong means, then the thief of that object has to undergo the consequences for both of them i.e. consequences of the stealing committed by him as well as the consequences of some unethical act committed by the owner of the object. Thus the law of Karma is very complicated. If this concept is understood properly, anybody would think twice before performing any act and he could be saved from accumulating sin.

There are a lot of disadvantages of stealing which are physical and mental punishment, stigma in society, loss of respect and reputation etc.. By the act of stealing moral strength, independence, piousness etc. are destroyed and due to such perversion one's consciousness attains descent or deteriorates.

Now, let us understand the subtle meaning of stealing. To misuse one's post or power to collect bribe money or gifts is considered as stealing even though the officer is going to help in accomplishing certain task or he is going to be helpful in any manner. Some officers demand bribe to accomplish other people's work and misuse their post, privilege or power. They consider bribe money as the compensation or fees to accomplish the work. They try to convince themselves, thinking that it is just an allowance or remuneration, but not the bribe. Thus, they make futile efforts to believe that they are not doing anything wrong, even though they may be feeling guilty within. But it certainly is an act of stealing.

There are various types of stealing. For example evading taxes like income tax, sales tax, octroi etc. by ignoring the ethics of business and employing various tricks like dishonesty, corruption, smuggling etc.; to gain undue benefits by breach of trust; to capture someone's deposits or security which were assigned out of trust to be looked after; to use the objects for personal use which are forgotten by someone; to pick up and retain the things lying on the road which belong to someone else etc..

There is always a possibility of committing mistake while performing some task. There is a saying that 'To err is human.' It is not a crime to commit mistake. But it is a crime not to accept one's mistakes with humility and not to amend one's mistakes after accepting them. It is stealing.

To hoard or accumulate food, grains or other objects unnecessarily is also an act of stealing, because a person who accumulates does not utilize them and other needy people are deprived of the necessities. Therefore, accumulating things unnecessarily is also a type of stealing. Bhagwan Swaminarayan has mentioned about storing the grain and money etc. in Shikshapatri, but it is also made clear that the objects should be stored as per requirements in the household. He has not mentioned to hoard out of proportion. Therefore, one should honestly assess one's requirements and accumulate accordingly. By piling up perishable objects like food items or other such items are spoiled, then they are of no use to anybody. They are to be discarded as garbage. This is a loss. Human tendency to amass black money or wealth is harmful for the society as well as nation. Amassing wealth unnecessarily is useless and other people cannot reap the benefits of such wealth. A person who has collected a lot of money feels deeply attached to his money and such attachment creates obstacles in attaining emancipation after death. Accumulated money which cannot be used for noble cause, create a lot of problems and distress as stagnant water in a puddle gets polluted and stinks and can not be used for any purpose, but flowing water of springs and rivers do not get spoiled due to movement and it could be used for a lot of purpose.

If a person doesn't utilize his knowledge or skills for the betterment of society means if a person does not teach his knowledge or skills inspite of being learned and scholar, this is subtle kind of stealing. Therefore, knowledge and skills should always be taught to eligible students. Teaching is the best form of contribution among all types of donations. It is well known that a lot of skills and art forms of our country have become extinct due to unwillingness to impart knowledge. Learned people hesitate to share their knowledge due to the fear that if other people learn their skills, then their fame, reputation, glory and financial gain also would be shared by other people. Sometimes jealousy and envy also play an important role. Therefore, ignorance and mental darkness spread in the society cannot be eradicated. If all the knowledge inherited by our country is spread in proper way, ignorance could be wiped out and our nation could proceed quickly on the path of progress. Let us pray to God that our country attains such auspicious opportunity.

These days shopkeepers and adulteraters sell their products at high price or they sell lower quality goods at high price saying that they are of good quality. Thus, they cheat the consumers and rob them. e.g. milkman mixes water in milk, petrol pump owner adds diesel, solvent or kerosene in petrol, readymade cooking spices are mixed with the coloured husk, eatables are also contaminated, medicines are contaminated. Everywhere there is adulteration and contamination. These days fake milk and fake ghee are also available. Goldsmith steals the gold and mixes copper or some other metal, tailor takes away good cloth for his own use. These are various types of stealing.

To project one-self more virtuous is stealing in form of hypocrisy. To boast about the deeds performed by oneself, to exagerate or to praise oneself etc. are also forms of stealing.

It is stealing not to be helpful to others inspite of being physically, mentally or financially capable, to be selfish, to be self-centered or not to serve one's parents, Guru, ill people, people in distress or needy people as per one's capacity. To travel by railway or bus without buying ticket or to enter the places without buying ticket where it is required to buy tickets are forms of stealing. During examination students use various methods of copying.This is obviously stealing.

To hide the truth, to accomplish one's selfish motives, to hide one's weaknesses or drawbacks or try to convince others that one's drawbacks are actually virtues and not the drawbacks etc. are subtle forms of stealing. Gambling, speculation etc. improper and unethical means of earning money are also acts of stealing.

Not to offer a part of one's earnings or wages or time to serve and please God is stealing. Our earnings or wages are purified by offering a part of it to God. By using such purified earnings one's conscience is purified and God is pleased and one attains salvation.

To have food selfishly without feeding one's servants and dependants is also stealing.

Not to fulfill one's obligations, responsibilities faithfully in attending one's job, profession and business or in service to society and nation is subtle form of stealing. Not to perform one's duties honestly is also a subtle form of stealing.

To conceal or hide one's sinful or malicious deeds in front of God or His Muktas is a very subtle form of stealing. To misuse the name of God or the name of God's Mukta to fulfill one's selfish motives, to mislead someone or to inspire someone to commit sin by quoting the statements in the name of a saint which have never been spoken by the saint are subtle forms of stealing.

To copy an article, creation, research or invention without the permission or willingness of the creator and declare it as one's original creation is an act of stealing. To imitate a saint and copy his speech and behaviour without having virtues like him is subtle form of stealing.

To accept and enjoy a gift out of greed or attachment which has been given by someone willingly, lovingly or respectfully is also considered as stealing. To consume food or any other object without offering it to God with full devotion is also a type of stealing. Lack of faith, conviction. atheism towards God and His Muktas, their divine form or teachings is subtle form of stealing. All the vices like greed or attachment towards worldly objects, narrow mindedness, acute desire for worldly objects, greediness, miserly attitude etc. are included in the definition of stealing.

Thus, any form of stealing, either gross or subtle, creates mental distress. It affects the purity of mind and makes it impure. Freedom of mind is lost and mind becomes slave of vices. Spiritual progress of consciousness is hindered as inner purity is lost and one's consciousness attains descent. Therefore, to renounce gross and subtle forms of stealing through thought, action and speech and to remain constantly aware so that it is not performed unknowingly is the real observance of third moral code of conduct.