Blessing in Disguise...

There was a very intelligent miser man, a natural kanjoos as we call it, living in a village. He would extract money from the villagers on some pretext or the other. One day, while he was sleeping, Yamraj came to take him away. He pleaded Yamraj - "I am young, why are you taking me ?" Yamraj, explained him -“with all your karma, you have only one place to go and that is Hell. You have spared none and who all you troubled, have only prayed for your death.” But this man was not willing to leave. He asked Yamraj, if he had any option or way out.

Yamraj said, “ If you can collect 1000 blessings of 'longer life' by midnight, I’ll spare you. But if you cannot, you will certainly go to Hell. But remember, you don't have to ask for any blessings, it should come from them on their own..” The man started thinking - how would he even get 1 blessing, when he has spared none and not done good to anyone. Finally, he came up with an idea. He promised Yamraj to come by midnight and by then he would have collected 1000 'longer life' blessings.

Yamraj went back and returned midnight. He saw this man smiling and holding 1000 blessings. Yamraj was surprised. He asked - “everyone you troubled only wished for your death and to Hell. How could you convince them to give you blessings of 'longer life'.” The man smiled and said - “Hey Yamraj, I only returned them back what belonged to them. And without asking, they blessed me with 'longer life'. We humans are very emotional. If someone does good for us, we remember it whole life and pray for his prosperity and good health.” 

As promised, Yamraj spared his life and left.

When Yamraj left, this man decided to visit his house for the last time - as he had already sold his house to return money to villagers. As he reached , he saw all those 1000 people standing to thank him again. He was surprised. Before he could ask, one of them came forward and said, “we came to know that you are left with nothing. Not even this house. You sold your everything to give back what belonged to all of us. But unknowingly, you also gave us what belonged to you - 'your good deeds'. In exchange, we all decided to return your most precious asset - your house.“

Everyone does mistakes in life but those who repent might still get some blessings and good wishes, if not today, then certainly one day. Acceptance is a bliss for only those, who value realization and believe in confession.