Asteya — Non-Stealing (Yoga Sutras)
Asteya (Non-stealing) — the third Yama in Patanjali's system — extends beyond physical theft to the subtle theft of attention, credit, and others' time, and produces the spontaneous gift of abundance.
The practice of Asteya (not taking what is not freely given) in Patanjali's system operates at multiple levels. At the physical level, it means not taking others' possessions. At the social level, it means not taking credit for others' work or stealing their time through chronic lateness. At the psychological level, it means not taking more attention, energy, or care from relationships than is freely offered. At the cosmic level, it means recognizing that everything one uses — air, water, food, the labor of others — is a gift, and cultivating the consciousness of a grateful recipient rather than an entitled consumer. The fruit (sutra 2.37) is that 'all jewels present themselves' — when one stops taking, the universe gives.
When established in non-stealing, all jewels present themselves.
Sutra 2.37 states the fruit of established Asteya: sarva ratna upasthanam — all jewels present themselves; Vyasa glosses that when a yogi ceases all grasping, wealth of every kind approaches unsought.
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali