Of friends equal and unequal

Sai R Vaidyanathan

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“O Rama, if you needed help against King Ravana of Lanka in the search for your abducted wife Sita, you could have come to me,” a fatally injured Vaanara King Vaali of Kishkindha told Lord Rama.

In the Ramayana, the prince of Ayodhya had shot Vaali in the back during his duel with stepbrother Sugriv.

Rama replied, “Vaali, you, a King, were already tied in a bond of friendship with the King of Lanka. Would you have entertained a request from an exiled prince like me? Would you have given up a friendship between equals for an unequal bond with me?”

On realising the import of Rama’s argument, Vaali closed his eyes and passed away. Here are two instances where outward differences have marred close bonds.

Promise forgotten

In the Mahabharata, prince Drupad of Panchal and Brahmin boy Drona were schoolmates. Once, Drupad promised Drona that he would share his kingdom equally with Drona.

Years passed. The boys got married and Drupad became King of Panchal. 

To meet his familial responsibilities, Drona felt the need for material acquisition. So he went to Drupad.

“Ask for alms, not an equal share of the kingdom,” an arrogant King Drupad told Drona.

Drona went to the neighbouring kingdom of Hastinapur and soon, trained his pupils, the Pandavas, to defeat and capture Drupad. Then, Drona kept half of Panchal and restored the other half to Drupad, thus establishing parity between them.

Under debt

On seeing that Karna, son of a low-class charioteer, was an excellent archer, prince Duryodhana of Hastinapur proposed friendship. He also gifted Karna the kingdom of Anga.

Duryodhana thought that he would pit Karna against Pandava prince Arjuna, the archer in the rival camp. So indebted did Karna feel to the eldest Kaurava prince that even when he got to know that the Pandavas were his brothers, he could not leave Duryodhana’s side.

Fighting for the Kauravas, Karna was killed by his own brother Arjuna in the Kurukshetra battlefield on the 17th day of the Mahabharata war.

Just a handful

Lord Krishna shows how a good friend should be treated, appearances notwithstanding. On his wife’s insistence, poor Sudama decided to go and meet his schoolmate Krishna of Dwaraka. Sudama not only decided that he would ask nothing from the Lord of the Universe, but also took for Krishna a few handfuls of ‘poha’ (flattened rice), his favourite snack.

The Lord welcomed Sudama and treated him well. Then, Krishna savoured a handful of ‘poha’ which bestowed on his poor friend all the material requirements for that lifetime. Krishna was about to have another morsel when his wife Rukmini, the Goddess of Wealth who takes care of its equitable distribution, stopped him.

On his return home, Sudama found that his hut had turned into a palace and there was enough wealth inside for him and his family to lead an easy life.

Good friends are hard to find. If you have one, cherish him or her.

The author can be contacted at author.sai@gmail.com