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Non-Stealing
101 In the list of five yamas in Patañjala Yoga Sūtras non-stealing (asteya) occupies the third position. The precept as it is clearly stated is based on non-violence. Theft, it is said, is unlawful making an object one's own or it is an unauthorized appropriation (aśāstrapūrvaka) of things belonging to others. Abstinence from theft consists in the absence of desire thereof,i Vācaspati Miśra points out that actually functioning of the body and speech depends upon the mind, this mental modification is mentioned as the principal factor, as described in the phrase 'absence of desire thereof'. Here, the desire, the eradication of which is to be sought, is 'coveting'. For accepting the principle of non-stealing, freedom from coveting is needed to be cultivated. This strengthens what has already been said that it is really greed or covetousness which is the root of theft. But, how is this desire (of greed or covetousness) to be eradicated ? For this, again the 'pratipakşa bhāvanā' theory of Patañjali fits well, which has already been applied to the cultivation of non-violence. The mental state of the person is the same every time, whenever he is inclined to commit a particular sin; whether he is thinking of an act of violence or committing an act of theft, his method of handl
the vicious mental modifications is always the same, though the tools may differ in different mental modifications. Here in the case of theft, the quality which overcomes temptation for stealing is contentment (santoșa)-the direct opposite of greed or covetousness. The cultivation of such an opposite desire would be very much appropriate psychologically. One cannot always fight with the ill intentions by a frontal attack, i. e. by just trying to suppress it; the more lasting and effective method would be by replacing the ill-intentions by the good ones. Therefore, by contemplating over the dignity and charm of contentment, establishment in non-stealing takes place.
1. स्तेयमशास्त्रपूर्वकम् द्रव्याणां परतः स्वीकरणं तत्प्रतिषेधः पुनरस्पृहारूपमस्तेयमिति ।
Vyasa's Comm. on Pât. Yoga. 2.30,
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