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Chapter Four Pillars of Gratitude
The sense of gratitude is an essential attribute; all other attributes in its absence are worthless. If one fails to remember the help extended by someone during an adversity, he misses an essential trait of humanity. In earlier times, one used to treat the obligation as a debt and remained keen to pay it back. That sense of gratitude is now not only going down; it also seems to be disappearing. People profess to be religious, but they hardly care to remember the obligations of others.
We stand obliged not only to parents, Guru, and society, but also to the civilization. The civic sense causes us to hesitate while undertaking anything inappropriate. On that very count, there arises within us a sense of reproach, when the animal instinct becomes too strong at times. If consciousness is awake, one repents even for a minor fault; and that helps him in refraining from anything wrong.
Now let us think of the obligation from the parents. They raise us with love and affection, for that purpose they bear extremities of temperature and other discomforts, when necessary; in times of adversities they feed us even if they have to remain hungry. In short, they survive more for the sake of children than for their own sake. How can one forget such a great obligation?
Third major obligation is from the society. Whatever progress we make is mainly due to the society. Our ability also counts, but we
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