By Urmila Devi Dasi
Among the many presents I received for my sixth birthday were several pairs of heavy red stockings. Like most children, I preferred toys to clothes-especially duplicate clothes. So I ran to my room and pouted. Like any good mother, mine told me to return to my guests, smile, and say, "Thank you," regardless of how I felt about the gifts. We commonly show what value we place on things by how we treat them. If I respect the gift or the giver, I place the object in a position of honour or give it to someone I care for. Giving what I have received to an unworthy person or throwing it carelessly into storage shows my lack of regard for it and may invoke the displeasure of the giver. There's an example of this in the scriptures. While the sage Durvasa was passing on the road, he saw Indra, chief celestial administrator, riding on the back of his elephant. Durvasa was pleased to offer Indra a garland from his own neck. But proud Indra took the garland and, without respect for Durvasa Muni, placed it on the trunk of his elephant. Being an animal, the elephant couldn't understand the value of the garland and threw it between its legs and smashed it. Seeing this insulting behavior, Durvasa cursed Indra to become poor. (Srimad-bhagavatam 8.5 .15 – 16, Purport}
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