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.