Asteya (Non-Stealing): Meaning, Examples and How to Practise It

Asteya (Sanskrit: अस्तेय) means "non-stealing": not taking what has not been given to you. It is the third of the five yamas, the ethical restraints that open Patanjali's eight-limbed path in the Yoga Sutras. The classical commentary adds a second layer: asteya also means letting go of the wish to take in the first place.

What does asteya mean?

The word has two parts:

• A (अ): not, without.
• Steya (स्तेय): theft, stealing. It is related to stena, a thief.

Put together: "the absence of stealing". So yes, asteya means not to steal, in the plain sense of the word. Sanskrit often names a virtue by negating a fault, the same way ahimsa means non-harming. You pronounce it in three syllables, close to uh-STAY-yuh.

In Jainism the same idea is called achaurya or achourya, from chaura, a thief. In Buddhism it is the second of the five precepts: to refrain from taking what is not given.

Asteya in the Yoga Sutras

Patanjali lists the five yamas in Yoga Sutra 2.30: ahimsa (non-harming), satya (truthfulness), asteya, brahmacharya (moderation) and aparigraha (non-greed). Sutra 2.31 calls them a "great vow" when they hold everywhere, at all times, with no exceptions for place, time or circumstance.

Asteya gets its own sutra, 2.37: asteya pratishthayam sarva ratna upasthanam. Word by word: when non-stealing is firmly established, all jewels come near. Teachers read that line in at least three ways, and we come back to it below.

The oldest commentary on the Sutras, attributed to Vyasa, defines stealing as taking things from others in a way the rules do not allow. Asteya is the absence of that, and also the absence of the craving for it. This is why teachers treat asteya as a practice for the mind as well as the hands. You can keep your hands off something and still want it badly. The commentary counts the wanting too.

The yamas come first on the path, before the five niyamas, before posture and before breath. Our guide to all five yamas puts asteya next to the other four, and the 8 limbs of yoga shows where they sit in the whole system.

Asteya outside yoga

Non-stealing is older than the Yoga Sutras and shared across Indian traditions. The Manusmriti lists asteya among its ten marks of dharma. Jain monks and nuns take achaurya as one of five great vows and do not accept anything, even a blade of grass, that has not been offered. Jain householders keep a lighter version. Several later yoga texts, such as the Shandilya Upanishad, list ten yamas instead of five, and asteya is on those lists as well.

Examples of asteya in daily life

Most people do not rob anyone. Asteya shows up in smaller places:

• Things. Return what you borrow, in the state you got it. Keep the extra change the cashier gave you by mistake, and you have taken something that was not given.
• Work. Credit the colleague whose idea you are presenting. Use software, music and photos you have paid for or have permission to use.
• Time. Arrive when you said you would. Ten people waiting ten minutes is more than an hour and a half of other people's time.
• Attention. Let the other person finish the story before you tell yours.
• Shared resources. Take your share of the food at a shared table, and leave some for the next person in line.

Some modern teachers add stealing from yourself: skipping sleep, or scrolling through the hour you had set aside for practice. That is an extension. It does not come from Patanjali, but many students find it useful.

How to practise asteya

The Sutras give a method for all the yamas in 2.33: when a harmful thought comes up, cultivate its opposite (pratipaksha bhavana). Applied to asteya, that looks like this:

1. Notice the wanting. Envy is the early signal. When you catch yourself wishing someone else's flat, job or body were yours, name it to yourself.
2. Look at what drives it. Sutra 2.34 names greed, anger and confusion as the roots of harmful acts. Ask which one is at work.
3. Practise the opposite. The opposite of taking is giving. Offer your time, give credit out loud, pay what something is worth.
4. Keep your word. A promise you break takes the time and trust someone gave you. Say yes less often and keep what you say yes to.
5. Practise contentment. Santosha, one of the niyamas, is the counterpart of asteya. People take when they feel they do not have enough.

On the mat, asteya can mean not taking a pose your body has not offered yet. Push into a deep hip opener because the person on the next mat is in it, and you are borrowing a range you have not earned. The breath tells you when you have gone too far. It gets short.

Where sources disagree

How wide is asteya? Patanjali and Vyasa are talking about taking other people's property, and the desire for it. Modern Western teachers stretch it to cover time, energy, attention, ideas, the planet's resources and even your own potential. The wide reading is useful as a reflection. It is also far from the text, and when every habit becomes a form of stealing, the word stops meaning much. We keep the two apart: the core is not taking what is not given, and the rest is application.

What do the "jewels" in Sutra 2.37 mean? Read literally, the line promises that treasure comes to someone established in non-stealing. Some traditional commentators took it that way, as one of the powers that come with practice. Most modern teachers read it psychologically: a person who does not take is trusted, and people bring them what is valuable. Others read the jewels as inner riches, the end of the feeling of lack. There is no way to settle this from the text. We present it as what it is: a promise from the tradition, read in different ways.

Asteya or aparigraha? The two overlap. Asteya is about taking what belongs to someone else. Aparigraha is about holding on to more than you need, even if you came by it fairly. Some teachers merge them, some keep them strictly apart. The Sutras give them separate places, so we do too.

Is it about acts or the mind? A rule-based reading says: do not steal, and you are keeping asteya. The Vyasa commentary goes further and includes the desire. Both readings have their place. The first is a floor anyone can stand on. The second is the practice of a lifetime.

If you want to read the yamas in Patanjali's own words, the class on Sadhana Pada sutras 30 and 31 goes through them line by line, and the introduction to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali program starts from the beginning. More in our yoga philosophy classes.

Frequently asked questions

What does asteya mean?

Asteya means non-stealing: not taking what has not been given to you. It comes from Sanskrit a (not) and steya (theft). It is the third of the five yamas in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

Is it true that asteya means not to steal?

Yes. That is the literal meaning. The classical commentary on the Yoga Sutras widens it to include the craving for what belongs to others, and modern teachers often apply it to time, attention and ideas as well.

How do you pronounce asteya?

In three syllables, close to uh-STAY-yuh. The first a is short and soft, like the a in "about".

What are examples of asteya in daily life?

Returning what you borrow, giving credit for other people's ideas, paying for the music and software you use, being on time, taking only your share at a shared table, and not taking over a conversation.

Which yama is asteya?

The third. Yoga Sutra 2.30 lists the yamas in this order: ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya and aparigraha.

What is the difference between asteya and aparigraha?

Asteya is not taking what belongs to someone else. Aparigraha is not holding on to more than you need, even when it is yours. One is about taking, the other about keeping.

What does Yoga Sutra 2.37 say about asteya?

It says that when non-stealing is firmly established, all jewels come near. Some read that literally, many modern teachers read it as trust, and others as the inner wealth of no longer feeling that you lack something.