The honest old man

Once there lived a very pious old man. As he had to travel to another city with a lot of luggage, he decided to undertake the journey on a train. When he went to buy a ticket, he was pleasantly surprised to see that the vendor was an old aquaintance. The vendor greeted the old man and said, “please do not bother to pay for your luggage. I will be on the same train, so I will ensure no one questions you”

The honest old man then asked the vendor how far he would be travelling. The vendor told him the name of a station. The old man, who had to travel further, replied, “And who will accompany me after that?” The vendor said, ” I will instruct the next guard to let you travel without any problems”.

The old man insisted, “How far will that guard see me through?” The vendor again replied, “He will accompany you to the end of the journey.”

The old man now said, “But my journey will not stop there.” The perplexed vendor now asked him, “How far will you be travelling?”

The old man replied, “I have to go beyond all these worldly stations. After death I will go to see God. Which guard will accompany me there and help me get through there?”

The ticket vendor was speechless!

The old man then explained to the guard that the train was not his (the vendor’s) property, and thus, the vendor had no authority to allow anyone to carry extra baggage and travel without paying the correct fare. He said, “I may be able to cleverly evade the customs and fool the authorities of this world, but I will not be able to fool God.” The guard realized his mistake and apologized to him.

Moral : Many a times, we too, may do misdeeds like the guard in this story, thinking that no one would catch it. However, as the old man has explained, though our deeds may not be known to others, God always knows what we have done ­ good or bad. Thus, we can overcome the temptation to do something incorrect, thinking about what God would think of our deed, regardless of what others think.