Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.64.39
Ūti· What drives us to actA Gift Must Not Be Stolen Back
“Whether it be his own gift or someone else’s, a person who steals a brāhmaṇa’s property will take birth as a worm in feces for sixty thousand years.”
What the purport teaches
- A brāhmaṇa’s property must not be stolen, even if the thief originally gave it to him.
- The same warning applies to property given by someone else. Having been its donor does not exempt a person from the consequence.
- The verse states that the thief takes birth as a worm in feces for sixty thousand years.
Try this today
Recall one gift you have given and consciously set aside any thought of taking it back without permission.
Ask yourself
Do I still think of a gift as mine to reclaim after giving it?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
From Canto 10, chapter 14 onward, the translation and purports were completed by Śrīla Prabhupāda's disciples after his departure, and published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.