No Greater Sin than Ingratitude

Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba emphasizes the efficacy of gratitude in the following discourse delivered almost a decade back. Citing examples from the Mahabharata, gratitude, He declares, is the quintessential virtue.  His command: Help ever, hurt never.

When rain falls on a sandy bed, it seeps down;
When the same rain falls on a bed of clay, it remains sweet water;
When raindrops fall into an oyster, they become pearls.
Likewise, devotion results in what one deserves.

Embodiments of Divine Love! For all names and forms in the world, there is one that is basic. Without that basis, no object can have a name or form. For instance, here is a tumbler. It has a name and form. But its primary base is silver. When the tumbler is melted, what remains is only the silver. What happened to the earlier name and form? They merged in the silver.

Likewise, the basic truth underlying all the myriad names and forms in the world is the satwic [good and pure] principle. It is pure sathya [truth]. It is Divine. It is this divine principle that enables everything to have a name and form.

“Ekoham Bahushyaam” (I am One; let me become the many). It was by the will of the Divine that all the myriad objects came into existence. The basic principle in this multiplicity is oneness. Between the numbers one and nine, nine is the larger number. But, in fact, the number nine is made up of nine ones (1 + 1 + 1…). One is the basic number. So also, all the diversity has emanated from the One.

Life is an interlude

What is the meaning of human life? It is an interlude between birth and death. In this interlude, men are victims of a variety of desires. There is no harmony between men’s thoughts, words, and actions. What is the reason for that disharmony? Man’s actions are not in accordance with his thoughts.

Although man’s thoughts are full of ideals, he makes no effort to act up to these ideals. He thinks in one way, speaks in another way, and acts in yet a different way. Consequently, he is subject to all kinds of sorrow and disorder. This is because he fails to satisfy his conscience. A man without self-satisfaction can have no peace. When can self-satisfaction be realized? Only unity and harmony in thought, word, and deed enables you to speak as you think and to act accordingly.

Man today is racked by all kinds of troubles. Are these troubles designed to make man miserable or to elevate him to a higher level of existence? Indeed, every trouble is really a step in the process of elevating man. If there are no troubles, man will not have appropriate lessons. Troubles constitute good lessons. Trouble and pleasure are inextricably mixed, and cannot be separated from each other by anyone. Pleasure has no separate existence. It is the fruit of pain. Man does not recognize this basic truth. When grief smites him, he succumbs to it. He gloats over some happy experience. His entire life is bound up with these varying experiences of pleasure and pain.

Therefore, man has to cultivate the sense of equanimity in pleasure and suffering. One should recognize that there is joy in sorrow and there is suffering in happiness. It is only when man cultivates the sense of equanimity in all circumstances, in pleasure or pain, that he will be able to experience peace.

Thoughts are basis for the actions

All experiences of pleasure and pain have their origin in man’s thoughts. Thought is like the seed of a tree, which in due course puts forth branches, leaves, flowers, and fruits. All that you see in a tree has come from a small seed. Likewise, although man’s thought is subtle, it contains potentially the entire universe. The atom is the microcosm of the universe. Students are aware of the huge size of the banyan tree. Its seed, however, is very small. But, the seed and the tree are essentially one.

Man has to keep a watch over his thoughts because they form the basis for his actions. When his wishes are fulfilled, he is content. But, when they [wishes] are not realized, he feels disappointed. Man does not enquire into the causes of these divergent results. In fact, his failures are the result of his own shortcomings. When his heart is pure, his actions yield beneficial results. And, his thoughts are the cause of the success or failure of his efforts. Hence, man must utilize his thoughts in the proper manner. His vision of the world depends on how he looks at it. “As he feels, so he becomes.” When one’s thoughts are sublime, the results are also sublime.

Man owes his achievements to society

Man receives help from various people in the world. Without such help, man cannot progress towards a higher level of existence. In childhood, the mother looks after the child. In boyhood, the father provides for his education. Later, he is involved in activities with friends. And then, his kith and kin involve him in family relationships. Thus, various persons assist man in his life. Without the help of various people, no one can progress towards a higher life.

After deriving help in this manner, what help is he rendering to his fellow men in return? It is good to render help to one who has helped you. It is even greater to help one who has done you harm. When such is the case, it is essential that man should serve the society that has helped him in so many ways. He owes to society the name and position he has achieved. Hence, he must render service. This was the dictum that sage Vyasa offered as the distilled essence of his eighteen Puranas: “It is meritorious to render help to others; it is sinful to do them harm.” This means: help ever, hurt never. Do not cause harm to anyone. If you can help anyone, do so.

Difference between mistake and sin

Once Duryodhana [the eldest of the Kauravas] declared, “I know what is good and what is bad. I also know that bad consequences will follow bad actions. But I am impelled to do only bad deeds. I know what is good. I know that good deeds will yield good results. But my mind is not inclined towards doing good. What is the reason for this? It is the absence of purity in my thoughts. My heart is filled with selfishness. My life has grown in the soil of selfishness. Selfishness induces me to seek gains for myself. Driven by selfish reasons I am harassing the Pandavas. I am aware of this. And, I am doing all this consciously.”

If one commits a wrong unwittingly, he is guilty of committing a mistake. But if he commits it deliberately, he is committing a sin. This is the difference between a mistake and a sin.

In this context, it may be pointed out that Karna [Kunti’s first born son] is a great example of one who showed gratitude for the good done to him. Besides being a great donor who gave away whatever was sought from him he exhibited unbounded loyalty to his master [Duryodhana]. In fact, he was ever ready to lay down his life for his master.

There was a reason for that. Many rulers had assembled to compete when the ruler of Panchala announced that his daughter, Draupadi, would be given in marriage only to the bowman who could successfully bring down an overhanging fish-yantra [image] by merely looking at its reflection in water. Draupadi was no ordinary woman. She had emanated from a blaze of fire. Who was worthy of her hand in marriage? Those taking part in the contest had to abide by one of two conditions. Either he had to be a ruler or a Kshatriya [the warrior class].

Karna was a great warrior. He had come to take part in the contest. Unfortunately, he was not the ruler of any state and he was a charioteer’s son, not a Kshatriya. For these reasons, he was asked to withdraw from the contest. He felt depressed that in spite of all his other accomplishments, he could not take part in the contest. As Karna walked back to his seat, Duryodhana thought, “There is no one equal in prowess to Karna excepting Arjuna. With Karna on my side, I can always deal with the Pandavas.” He came to Karna’s help at that moment and crowned him as the King of Angadesha.

In return for that one act of magnanimity, Karna pledged that he would serve Duryodhana by shedding the last drop of blood for him.

Later on, the Kauravas and Pandavas gathered their forces for war. [Lord] Krishna had tried his best to prevent the Armageddon, as he knew the infinite calamities of war. He went as an envoy of the Pandavas to plead for a peaceful settlement with the Kauravas. Arjuna told Krishna that it was futile to parley with the wicked Kauravas and that they should get ready for battle.

A mother’s love is unbounded

A day before the battle was to begin, Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas, realized what was impending. She also happened to be Karna’s mother although he was unaware of that fact. Karna was her first child, born as a result of a boon from the Sun God. She was aware of Karna’s extraordinary powers and sought an opportunity to meet him. There may be bad sons, but there is no bad mother. A mother’s love is unbounded.

One day, Karna was performing sandhya vandanam [prayers to the Sun] in the morning after taking a bath in the river. Getting news of this from her maids, Kunti went to the riverbank. Karna was engaged in meditation. Kunti waited behind him, overwhelmed by grief at seeing him after a long time. She was also stricken with sorrow at the prospect of her near and dear ones dying in the impending battle.

Kunti reveals that Karna was her son

Unable to contain her grief, Kunti wailed aloud. Interrupted abruptly from his meditation Karna opened his eyes to see Kuntidevi before him. He did not know that she was his mother, though he knew she was the mother of the Pandavas. He asked her, “Mother! Why are you in such great sorrow? I am Karna, the son of Radha. I offer my salutations to you. Please let me know the cause of your grief.”

Kunti replied, “Dear child, you are not the son of Radha. You are my son. You were born to me as a boon from the Sun God. To avoid public ignominy, I left you on the banks of the Ganga River. I am a great sinner. I pitilessly abandoned you on the Ganga though you were a newborn babe. For selfish reasons, to safeguard my name, I abandoned you in this manner. You are my eldest son. The Pandavas are your brothers and Dharmaraja is your younger brother. Dear son, give me one promise. If all of you were united, you could rule the entire world. You could become the emperor. All the Pandavas will obey and follow your footsteps like a shadow. I give you my word. Do not bear any enmity towards the Pandavas in the impending battle. Consider them in your heart as your brothers. Ponder over the sorrow that afflicts your mother.”

When Karna heard these words, he was confused. “I had heard now and then about the secret of my origin, but never before from the mouth of my mother. The Pandavas are indeed my brothers. I am Kuntidevi’s son. But at this juncture, am I to abide by my mother’s words? Or, am I to show my gratitude to my master?” Karna debated thus within himself.

Karna refuses to betray his master

He told Kunti: “Whether he was a wicked or an unrighteous person, it was Duryodhana who gave me a position of honor and raised me to my present state. I cannot betray my master. But, because you are my mother, I will give you one promise.” Karna declared: “Promise to the mother is one thing; loyalty to the master is a different thing. The former is in the nature of a fight. The latter is a responsibility. They are like the two wheels of a chariot or the two wings of a bird. They go together. Mother, I give you this promise. When the occasion arises, I shall spare Dharmaraja, Bhima, Nakula and Sahadeva. I will not harm them. But I will not spare Arjuna. If in this battle I lose my life, the five Pandavas will be your sons. In case Arjuna dies, you will still have five sons. I will take the place of Arjuna among the Pandavas. In any case, there will be no diminution in the number of your five sons. This is my plighted word.”

Saying this, Karna caught hold of his mother’s feet and said, “Mother! The other day, in the court of Dhrupada, Duryodhana saved my honor. I know he is a wicked man. I also know that the Pandavas are the very embodiment of dharma [righteousness]. But, I will be worse than a cruel animal in the forest if I forget the good done to me by Duryodhana. I have to show my gratitude to my master. In this respect, there can be no change in my attitude.”

No atonement for betraying the Divine

Later, Karna gave away even the earrings given to him by the Sun God. And he offered to Indra [ruler of celestial beings] the armor he was wearing. He even laid down his life for his master. But, he did not give up the gratitude he owed to Duryodhana.

It must be remembered that there is a means to atone even for acts of killing a brahmin, a cow, or an infant. But there is no way of atoning for betraying the preceptor or the Divine. If you become ungrateful, you will be worse than a wild beast.

Kunti replied: “I shall be happy if you remain a man with such high ideals. There is no one who can slay Arjuna. You bear animosity towards Arjuna. I am content with your promise. It is enough if you spare Dharmaraja, Bhima, Nakula, and Sahadeva.”

In this context, observe how much gratitude existed among the Pandavas. Dharmaraja, Bhima and Arjuna were the sons of Kunti. Nakula and Sahadeva were the sons of Madri (the second wife of Pandu). When Madri was about to commit sati—a ritual in which wives sacrificed themselves in their husbands’ funeral pyre—Dharmaraja gave her a promise. He said, “Mother! You are about to give up your life for the sake of my father. I shall look after your sons with even greater concern than for my uterine brothers. Whatever differences may arise between us, I shall treat them as my own brothers.” He gave this pledge to Madri.

In an incident described in the Mahabharata, during their exile, the four Pandava brothers—Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva—die at a pond. Their death occurred as they failed to answer questions from the guardian yaksha [spirit] of the pond.  Dharmaraja who comes looking for them then answers all the questions put to him by the yaksha.

Pleased with Dharmaraja’s replies, the yaksha agrees to restore the life of one of the four brothers of Dharmaraja’s choice. Dharmaraja promptly asked that Nakula or Sahadeva be restored to life. The yaksha wondered why Dharmaraja did not ask for the resuscitation of one of his own brothers, Bhima or Arjuna, but preferred one of the two stepbrothers. Dharmaraja replied that his mother Kunti had him, and, he wanted that a son of his stepmother, Madri, should also be alive. Dharmaraja mentioned the pledge he had given to Madri. Lauding Dharmaraja’s magnanimity, the yaksha restored lives of all the four brothers.

Gratitude is a great virtue

Gratitude is a great virtue. When the power of gratitude is realized, it will be seen that it can give benefits much more than anyone can imagine. If men become ungrateful out of narrow-mindedness, they will suffer grievously. If such is the case in regard to purely human relationships, how much more rewarding gratitude can be when it is offered to God?

Dear Students! This is a period of innocence and inexperience in your life. You are filled with desires. You tend to be selfish and self-centered. But even so, you can make your lives sacred and meaningful by carrying out the injunctions of the Divine. If you adhere to this one rule, you will redeem your lives and promote the welfare of your families and your society. Although Dharmaraja asked only for the restoration to life of only one stepbrother, the yaksha revived all the brothers.

Karna stands out as the supreme exemplar of gratitude. He demonstrated what it means to be grateful to one who has helped you, even if he happens to be a wicked person.

Source: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 25