Related Articles : Stories with Moral Lessons
Once their was a girl named Sulekha who was very religious, kind and wise. She got married in a business family and her father in law was the richest person in his village as well as in the nearby areas and her husband also assisted his father in his business. Even though her father in law had lots of money, he did not like to spend money for any type of charity work, religious work or any other type of good deed and this thing worried Sulekha a lot as she was very religious and kind by nature. Almost no beggar or needy person would get any type of help from their house.
Once her father in law was having his lunch when a Monk came to the door and asked for money or food to which her father in law said a blunt No. The Monk again asked for money or food and her father in law told the Monk to go somewhere else. When the Monk asked for money or food for the third time saying that when God had blessed him with everything, he should donate a part of it, Sulekha intervened and told the Monk to go someplace else as her father in law was eating Stale Food despite being very rich. On hearing her words, the monk smiled and left.
Her father in law became very angry on Sulekha’s harsh words and he asked her that even though she knew that he was eating freshly prepared food, then why did she insult him in front of Monk by telling such lie to him. Sulekha replied that whatever she had told the Monk, was true and that she had said nothing wrong to the Monk. This matter became an issue and this issue became such a big problem that her father in law took Sulekha to village Panchaayat ( Court ) and after telling them the whole incident he asked for Panchaayat’s permission to desert such a woman who did not respect her father in law and who lied.
The Panchaayat before reaching to any decision, gave Sulekha a chance to explain her side to which she said that whatever she had told the Monk, was truth and nothing but the truth and then on demand of Panchaayat, she explained the truth told by her.
” My father in law is a very rich person but he never spends any amount of his money on good deeds which means that all his money and other blessings, are a result of the good karmas that he did in his past life. As he is only eating his past life karmas and he is not doing any significant good karmas in this life, and as the Monk thought that my father in law must have done many good deeds in this life as he was blessed, so I cleared his doubt by telling him that my father in law is eating Stale Food, which means that all the richness that he sees has come from the good karmas done in past life and not from the good karmas done in this life. The Monk understood what I had said and his doubts were cleared and so he left. ”
Moral : If you are not blessed enough in this life, you should know that you did not do sufficient good karmas to be blessed in this life and so this is the time to start doing good deeds so that you may get blessed in this life as well as in the coming lives. And if you are blessed in this life, then it becomes even more important in this life to do more and more good karmas as most of the blessings that you have got in this life are the fruits of good karmas of your past life and most of them will last only till the end of this life or for a time period even shorter than that. So do not eat Stale Food which means that do not only enjoy the fruits of good karmas of your past life and make sure that you do enough good karmas in this life also, so that you stay blessed in this life as well as in the coming life also. Always remember that Good or Bad, whatever you do Today, will come back to you Tomorrow.
By
Himanshu Shangari