A strong message

The culture fostered in the Upanishads is based on the fact that an individual’s birthright includes the right to live with a sense of gratefulness. Every being is indebted from birth to many people. While it is made clear that it is not possible to repay one’s debts in toto, it emphasises that one should cultivate the bhava of being respectful and grateful to one’s parents, teacher and guest and in fact to all beings in creation, pointed out Sri Sudarshan Kannan in a discourse. Conversely, ingratitude is shunned as a negative force that reflects the selfishness in human nature and goes contrary to the noble trait of gratitude. Ingratitude, Shakespeare says, is stronger than a traitor’s arms. That is why Julius Caesar stops defending himself and gets

reconciled to death when he sees Brutus attack him.

Duryodhana and Dhritarashtra reflect the selfish trait that dominates their personality to the extent of stifling the sense of gratitude in them. But Arjuna is filled with remorse with his plight that makes him fight against his own people, elders and preceptors. Krishna asserts that people are differentiated according to the gunas born of their nature. One should become introspective of oneself and the kind of life one leads in respect to the world. The important lesson to be internalised is that there is a remedy to the ills of life

and to become sensitised to the presence of moral and
physical evil in life. Good conduct is reflected in
truthfulness of thought, word and deed, practice of
austerity and self-control and the performance of
everyday duties of life in an unattached manner. The
bhava of being grateful gradually leads one to a life of
selfless service. It effaces the ego and adds to the inner
purity when one is no longer swayed by thoughts of ‘I’
and ‘Mine.’ The best one can do is to remain grateful
for this birth. The moral ideal of the Upanishads is
renunciation of all selfish and personal desires.
Prophet Mohammed’s parting advice is a strong message. “He amongst you is best who is best at repaying.”