Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 1.11
॥
Devanāgarī
अन्यदीये तृणे रत्ने काञ्चने मौक्तिकेऽपि च । मनसा विनिवृत्तिर्या तदस्तेयं विदुर्बुधाः
Transliteration (IAST)
anyadīye tṛṇe ratne kāñcane mauktike'pi ca | manasā vinivṛttiryā tadasteyaṃ vidurbudhāḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अन्यदीये तृणे रत्नेanyadīye tṛṇe ratnefrom another's blade of grass, from a jewel
काञ्चने मौक्तिके अपि चkāñcane mauktike api cafrom gold and from a pearl as well
मनसा विनिवृत्तिः याmanasā vinivṛttiḥ yāwhat turning-away by the mind
तत् अस्तेयं विदुः बुधाःtat asteyaṃ viduḥ budhāḥthat the wise know as not taking what is another's
Translation
"Turning away by the mind from what is another's — from a blade of grass, from a jewel, from gold, from a pearl — that the wise know as not taking what is another's."
Version
7e17ec215e02 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The definition of not taking what is another's is built with two subtleties, and both are worth noting. The first — the list: trina, "a blade of grass," is set in the same row as a jewel, gold, and a pearl. This pairing is deliberate. For the taker, the difference between a blade of grass and a pearl is enormous; but for the prohibition there is none: what is another's is another's, and the size of what is taken changes the scale of the harm, but not the nature of the act.
This observation is, I think, more important than it seems. A person rarely decides on something large all at once; he trains himself on blades of grass — on another's time, another's praise, on trifles "no one will miss anyway" — and afterward the large thing meets no inner resistance. The second subtlety — the word manasa, "by the mind." What is required is not restraint of the hand, but a turning-away of the mind.
Here lies the difference between honesty and not-taking-what-is-another's in this sense. An honest person does not take; here it is said of him that he does not even want to take — and this is a different state, achieved not by resolve. The Vaishnava side speaks of how this is achieved in a simple and verifiable way. The Gita: "objects fall away from the abstinent, but the taste for them remains; and the taste falls away from one who has seen the Highest" — raso'py asya param drishtva nivartate (2.59).
This verse deserves being held as the key to this whole section on restraints. What is desired can be taken away by force, and then longing remains; to replace what is desired with something better is the only way in which no longing remains.