Can any one of us very confidently say that we have never done anything wrong in our lives? We haven’t behaved in a shoddy or disrespectful way with others? The interesting aspect of our life is that we tend to forget something wrong which we do to others but always remember what others have done to us. We always vie for a person’s blood who misbehaved with us, spoke to us arrogantly or did not show any respect to us. The sight of that person agitates us, their success pains us. We always pray that god should do justice with me and punish our insulters severely. However if we have done something wrong to others then we always hope that god will be merciful and will surely forgive us. Is it not a double standard? If we seek forgiveness for our mistakes from God then should we also not desire forgiveness for others? It would not be better if we ourselves forgive that person who tried to hurt us.
Forgiveness is a great virtue which we should always nurture. History is inundated with the stories of people who are revered today because they had the heart to forgive others. Hiranyakashipu tried all means to savagely kill his 5 year old son Prahlad but Prahlad begged to Lord Nrsimhadeva to forgive his father, Lord Rama was always ready to forgive Ravana, Lord Nityanand Prabhu forgave Jagai and Madhai although they humiliated him and injured him, Hardias Thakura were beaten at 22 market places but throughout his ordeal Haridas Thakura begged the Lord to forgive those who were tormenting him, Jesus Christ begged for forgiveness for those who were crucifying him. Carrying grudge towards others is like carrying a burning charcoal in our hand. It burns us always and increases our suffering. Forgiveness reflects our magnanimity, it also purifies our heart. Once we forgive others then our heart experiences a deep serenity. This is why in Bhagavad Gita 16.3; forgiveness is categorized as one of the divine qualities. So, let us try to follow the footsteps of these great souls and try our best to forgive those who once brought pain in our life.
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