Gratitude, a divine virtue: Jayesh Bhai Patel

RL Pandey

Ahmedabad. These words have been expressed by Jayesh Bhai Patel, Managing Trustee Sabarmati Ashram Ahmedabad. Gratitude means remembering the favor, help, or service done by others and having a feeling of gratitude towards them. Ingratitude means a lack of this feeling.

Gratitude is a symbol of humility. This is an innate quality of the soul. The less our consciousness is covered with layers of materialism, the more we will be able to experience and demonstrate this quality. A grateful person becomes worthy of praise and an ungrateful person becomes worthy of only condemnation. It is also seen in this world that if we remain grateful after taking help from someone in material terms, then we are appreciated. Then imagine what we get from those teachers of ours, How grateful we should be to the teachers, sages, Shri God, and the scriptures who free us from this material world and establish us on the spiritual plane.

Just as a person drowning in the sea remains completely helpless and dependent on external help, similarly we need help to be free from this worldly ocean. If we remain grateful after receiving help, we will be able to cherish the gift we receive, otherwise, it will not last long with us.

We should not only be grateful for the gifts received in the field of devotion but also for external worldly activities. We should be grateful to those people with whose help we get food, clothing, and shelter. We should be grateful to nature which gives us medicines, minerals, wood, soil, metals, oil, etc. If we go to Vrindavan, Jagannath If we go to a place like Puri, then we should be grateful to the Indian Railways with the help of which our journey is possible.

You will say hey! I have paid the price for all these things, then what is the need to be grateful? You are absolutely right! But can we reach Vrindavan sitting on a bundle of ₹500? We buy grains by paying ₹ 100 and satisfy our hunger by eating it. But can we satisfy our hunger by eating ₹ 100 notes? Therefore, we should be grateful to the farmer, to the rain, to Lord Indra, to the means of transport, etc. The money offered is a minimum price. But we should remain grateful from our hearts.
It is not necessary or possible for us to express our gratitude to every person who helps us. Gratitude is a feeling of our consciousness. God, who resides in our hearts, is well aware of our feelings. At the same time, God resides in the hearts of others as well. And He conveys our feelings to others. Yes, whenever possible, we should express our gratitude verbally or through behavior. Should also be expressed.
This quality of gratitude is found most prominent among the devotees.
Once Srila Prabhupada says in a discourse on the appearance day of his Guru Srila Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati –

It was as if I was forced to take this movement seriously. I would dream that Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati was calling me. Come, come with me. I would get scared seeing this. Hey! What will happen now? I will have to give up my family life. Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur is calling me. I would have to take Sannyasa. And I would get very scared. I saw this dream many times in which he would call me, so it was because of his grace that I was forced to leave my family life and business and he somehow pulled me. Brought to spread this message.

So this is a memorable day. I am making a humble effort to fulfill his wish. And you all are helping me with this. So I am very grateful to you all. In fact, you all are the representatives of my Guru Maharaj Because you are helping me to follow the orders of my Guru Maharaj. Thank you very much.
While saying the last sentence, Srila Prabhupada's throat gets blocked and he starts crying. Srila Prabhupada was grateful to his guru for inspiring Prabhupada in his work of propagating the Bhagavata message and he was grateful to his disciples for helping them fulfill the guru's orders.
In fact, it is this feeling of gratitude that nourishes our spiritual life and provides joy to the heart of Shri Krishna.