Stealing from a Thief is Still Stealing

During the autumn harvest in the fields, field mice steal some grain and bury it in their burrows, which serves as their food for the entire winter. As winter approaches, some people specifically search for field mouse burrows, dig out the various grains they have stored, and take them home. A single burrow can yield several jin or even ten jin of grain. When the field mice return to their burrows and find the grain gone, some may despair and die by suicide; otherwise, they would starve without food in winter. Is digging up and taking the field mice's grain considered an act of stealing?

What is called stealing (adinnādāna) is taking what is not given—secretly taking something without the owner's consent, moving it to one's own possession or under one's name, and claiming ownership. The owner must be a sentient being. The thief acts with thieving intent, taking the initiative to seize the item, employing certain means to facilitate the act, and ultimately causing the item to leave the owner and arrive at the thief's location, successfully establishing possession of the stolen item.

The field mouse's behavior constitutes theft. First, it has thieving intent—stealing secretly without letting others know. Second, it uses its mouth to carry it away, employing a means of facilitation. Third, the grain leaves the field and is placed in its own burrow, becoming its possession. Since it is theft, the stolen grain must belong to the field mouse; otherwise, the act wouldn't constitute theft—the theft wouldn't be established.

If humans then dig up the grain from the field mouse's burrow, it constitutes stealing the field mouse's property. If the field mouse had not stolen it but was merely storing it for humans, then humans digging it up would not be stealing from the field mouse but from someone else.

Similarly, secretly taking something that a thief has stolen is also an act of theft. This is because the thief, through certain means, successfully stole the item, brought it to their own location, and became the new owner of the item. If the ownership had not changed, the theft wouldn't be established. If someone else then secretly takes the thief's possessions, employing certain means, successfully brings the item to their own location, and becomes the new owner, this act constitutes theft. However, if there is a different motivation during the process—not an intent to possess the thief's belongings—then it may not necessarily be theft.