Related Articles : Stories with Moral Lessons
Once there was a person named Ashok who traveled from one place to the other for his trade. One evening while he was passing from a lonely and deserted area, the weather got very bad and heavy rain, storm and lightening, all of them made his journey almost impossible and he started to look for some place nearby where he could take shelter for the evening and night.
By virtue of his good luck, he came across a small room which was made in the middle of a deserted place and seeing this Ashok went to this room in hope of getting shelter. He knocked at the door and a sage opened the door with smile and before Ashok could tell him anything about his situation, the sage welcomed him in with a smile and asked him to spend the night there as the weather seemed impossible to continue the journey. The sage prepared some food for him and then they both started taking rest on the mats which were spread on the floor.
After some time, there was a knock on the door and they both got up. They went to the door and saw two men all drenched with water and looking all worried and before they could make any request, the sage welcomed them in and asked them to spend the night there. On hearing this, Ashok asked the sage that as there was place for only two people to sleep, then how would they accommodate another two people. The sage smiled and said that there was place for two people to lie down but three people could sit on one mat and the fourth one can take rest lying on the other mat and they could do it turn by turn.
After an hour or so, there was again a knock and when the door was opened, two more men were standing in the same situation looking for a shelter. The sage welcomed them also and said that if all of them sat instead of lying, there is still sufficient place for all of them. This arrangement was made and all of them sat on the floor and waited for the rain and storm to subside as the sage offered all of them something to eat.
Another couple of hours passed and there was again a knock and when the door was opened, four more men were standing on the door in the same situation and before anyone could say anything, the sage welcomed them in, saying that there is still sufficient room for all of them if all of them spent the night standing instead of sitting. Those men were also taken in and the sage offered them also, whatever little was left to eat.
The night passed and the weather got normal. In the morning, all of the people left the place giving many thanks to the sage and when it was Ashok’s turn to leave, he touched the feet of the sage and said, ” Thank you a million times, O Sage, as you have not only given me shelter and food at a very difficult time but you have also taught me a very important lesson for my life that if you really want help to help others, you will always find ways to do so. O Sage, your room may be small but your heart is very big. ”
Moral : In order to do good to someone, you do not always need big resources as the resources are not the primary requirement to help someone but intentions are. If you really have the intentions of helping other people, you will always find ways to help them just like the sage who had a small room but a big heart, and so he was able to adjust all of the people coming to him for help. Kindness and benevolence are ornaments of the soul and they are not dependent upon money or resources to express themselves. Once you develop these qualities within you, you will stop finding excuses for not helping the ones in need and instead you will start doing whatever you can do for them.
By
Himanshu Shangari