A Sober Lie

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was a very generous man and he considered his priority to help others. One day he came to know that another kind hearted man who used to help needy people named Jairaj had passed away and his wife doesn't even have money for his funeral ceremony. Vidyasagar did not personally know Jairaj but he wanted to help his wife. After thinking for a while he came out with a way. He went to Jairaj's house where he saw Jairaj's wife weeping near Jairaj's dead body. Consoling her Vidyasagar said, 'Few days back I borrowed some money from Jairaj and today while I was coming here to return some amount of money from it, on the way I came to know about his sad demise. Kindly accept this money and I will soon return the remaining amount too.'

Jairaj's wife accepted the money with thanksgiving and used it for her husband's funeral. Even in future Vidyasagar regularly provided financial assistance to Jairaj's family. After few years when Jairaj's wife came to know about the reality she along with her sons came to Vidyasagar's house. She fell at his feet and with tears in her eyes said, 'I am very grateful to you for everything you did but in order to help us you had to lie because of us you had to commit a sin. How will I be able to forgive myself?' To this Vidyasagar said, 'Any lie spoken for some good work is not a sin.'

Moral: Any lie spoken for some one's help or some good work is not a sin rather it is counted as a holy act. Basically any lie or untrue words with public welfare in its background is worth appreciation.

Beauty Is World's Biggest Glory

Once a philosopher read that, "Beauty is world's biggest glory. Worship, knowledge, deeds and servicing are trivial ways for the attainment of God. In reality beauty is the only correct way." He further read, "A person can attain God only in the natural beauty of the environment which is enclosed with beautiful mountain ranges, where the rivers flow in their innocence, where there is purity in the ambiance." Since his own house was in the desert so after reading this the philosopher left his house in the search of beauty. For a long time he stayed in the midst of the mesmerising beauty of nature surrounded with mountains and rivers. Then one day he returned back to his home but only after a few days he felt weary and he prepared to move out again.

Seeing this a local saint asked him, "Where are you going now?" The philosopher replied, "I am going away from here, to a place where I can find beauty which can give peace to my heart and soul." Saint asked, "Till today you have wandered in the search of beauty but how much did you contribute in the creation of beauty? You kept running away from your own house and land, one day God will ask you that even after seeing my numerous beautiful creations why didn't you make any effort to beautify one less beautiful place? Have you ever thought that planting a flower plant or growing some grass can even make this desert look beautiful. You only think about your personal welfare." These words touched philosopher's heart and he stayed back and made his contributions in the creation of beauty there and earned self-satisfaction.

Moral: True happiness lies in social welfare. Happiness is incomplete if we alone are happy and others are unhappy.