Since the mother has given you blood, her life and strength and is responsible for your birth, you must show gratitude by respecting her. You must show gratitude to your father who gives you money, education and protection. The rishis or saints give you human qualities and so you must show gratitude to them. Ultimately God is responsible for all these, so you must show your gratitude to God. (SSB 1973, p. 178)
Be grateful to the Institute that has fostered you. The Sai that loves you as the mother, protects you like the father, counsels you as the Guru and saves you like God should ever be in your memory. Live, wherever your future lies, in accordance with the ideals you have imbibed here. Do not fall into the temptations of imitating wild and vulgar fashions in dress, deportment and thinking. (BA, p. 21)
Have firm faith in the reality of God’s existence. You have to show your gratitude to God for the benefits showered on you. Consider, for instance how the Divine has filled the atmosphere with life-giving oxygen to enable you to live. The biggest fan made by man can provide breeze only for a small area. But the winds, caused by Nature, can blow over the whole world. Who is the cause of this wind? There are three kinds of lamps in the Mandir. They illumine a small place. But the sun, created by God, illumines the whole world. We can pump water with the help of pump sets. Can all the water pumped by the sets equal a fraction of the water got from a heavy downpour of rain, which can inundate the Ganges. Who is that that is providing this air, water and this illumination? We are enjoying all these but we show no gratitude to the provider of these benefits. We express thanks to those who render trifling acts of service. But what thanks are we expressing to God who is providing such essential life, sustaining amenities for meaningful human existence? Can this be a virtue in a human being? Is it a sign of right education? Is it a mark of a scholar?
No, you must show gratitude with humility and sincerity to whoever has done you any good. Education that does not promote gratitude is worthless. It is the parents that give you education. The Guru is the educator. The Divine has given you the capacity to get educated. Hence, the mother, the father and the Guru are to be revered as God, as enjoined in the Vedas. You must show your gratitude to your parents, offer due respect to the teacher and base your life on faith in God. You may feel proud that you are getting on in life by your own abilities and intelligence. This is utterly foolish. (SSE, pp. 105-106)
You are the beneficiaries of totally free education in the Sai Institute. The gratitude you can show to the Institute is by your behaviour, as men of good character. Never be ungrateful to those who have been good to you. There is no greater sin than that. The sun, who is the presiding deity for the eye, punishes the ungrateful by denying them their eyesight. The consequences of one’s actions may be felt instantaneously or after the lapse of some time. But they are bound to follow. I seek nothing from the students. All that I want is that the moment they see you, people should recognise you as the fine products of the Sai Institute. By your bad behaviour you should not bring a bad name to the Institute. More than a white uniform, you should have a white and pure heart. You must become ideal students. (SS May 96, pp. 118-119)
The first pronouncement which Rama made on the occasion of the coronation is remarkable. He said: ‘Who is it that is primarily responsible for making today’s celebration possible? Hanuman was solely responsible for the successful search of the whereabouts of Sita and helping me to recover her. Hence, at the outset I express my gratitude to Hanuman.’ Rama then expressed his gratitude to Jatayu, who sacrificed his life in fighting against Ravana while he was carrying away Sita.
Next, Rama expressed his gratitude to Sugriva, who had helped him in organising the search for Sita and in providing the hordes for the war on Ravana. He next expressed his gratitude to Vibhishana, who had come over to him, despite the suspicions of Rama’s companions, and who had revealed to Rama many of the secrets of the enemy. Above all, there were the huge hordes of monkeys, who had no direct connection with Rama or Sita, who endured many hardships and even laid down their lives for his sake and he expressed his gratitude to all of them. In this manner, Rama expressed his gratitude to one and all who had helped him in the epic Rama-Ravana battle.
The supreme lesson to be learnt from the Ramayana is that one should be grateful all his life to anyone who has helped him in a crisis. Only the man who shows such gratitude can be termed a human being. The ungrateful man is a demon. The human and the demonic are not different in external appearance. It is by his actions that one is called human, demonic or divine. All those who indulge in bad thoughts, bad speeches and wicked acts are described as demons. Equally, those who do harm to those who have helped them were regarded as demons. So also, those who renounce Truth and Righteousness and cherish falsehood and wickedness as their life-breath were treated as demons. (SSS Vol.29, pp. 151-152)
We should always be aware of God and do service to our nation. The food we eat, the clothes we wear, the air we breathe, the land we live, in one word: all the five elements that we enjoy belong to India, we should express our gratitude to it. (M, p. 21)
Gratitude is the most fundamental virtue of man. People while performing Suryanamaskara (offering salutation to the sun), praise the sun god in various ways. One of them is Kritaghnaghnaaya Namah (salutations to the one who punishes the ungrateful). The light of the sun god is present in our eyes in a subtle form. Chandrama Manaso Jatah chaksho Suryo Ajayatah (the moon was born out of the mind and the sun out of the eyes of Supreme Being). It is said that the sun god withdraws his light from the eyes of the ungrateful. One without the sense of gratitude can be called a blind person. Whoever he may be, one should always remain grateful to one’s benefactor. One should show gratitude even without caring for one’s life. God is helping man in ever so many ways but man does not show gratitude to Him. (SS May 2002, pp. 132-133)
Today people have little sense of gratitude. Even if you get a little help from anyone, you should always remember it. It is unfortunate that people even harm those who I will always look to them with kindness. I have declared: My life is My message. How many people follow the path shown by Me? If you follow in My footsteps, no harm will ever touch you. (SS June 02 , p. 166)