FRIENDSHIP AND MARRIAGE

There are two friendships, examples of two extremities elaborated. One in the Mahabharata and the other in Bhagawatha.

First we will explore the friendship between the Drona and the Panchala King Drupada.
Drona was the son of the Maharishi Bharadwaj (Maharishi Bharadwaj’s ashram is in the Allahabad).

Drupada was the Prince of the Panchala kingdom.

Both the Maharishi Bharadwaj and the Prachetas (Drupada’s father) were friends.
In that capacity the Prince would often visit the hermitage of the Bharadwaj. Drona and Drupada of being equal age formed friendship and delighted in the company of each other.

The things were going in this fashion and one day both Maharishi Bharadwaj and the King Prachetas passed away.

The Prince Drupada now became the King of his domain.
Drona stayed back in his father’s ashram.

He was by now a master in all weapons. He wanted to hone his skills further. He heard that the great sage Parashurama was giving away all his possessions to Brahmans.

Sage Parashurama was an authority in all the celestial weapons. He had single handedly conquered the vast country. He was now engaged in the act of giving all his possessions to the Brahmans.

Drona was desirous in obtaining the celestial weapons in the possession of the sage Parashurama.

He started to meet him. By the time he reached the abode of the sage Parashurama the sage had given all that he had to the assembled Brahmans.

Drona introduced himself to the sage Parashurama his lineage. He introduced himself to be the son of Maharishi Bharadwaj.

Sage Parashurama said to him,’ Tell me what you want. I have given all that I had with me. I can give you my life or my weapons. Tell me what you want’.

To this Drona replied.’ Revered Sir. Please give me all the celestial weapons at your command, together with the incantations to send them and also to take them back’.

‘So be it’, replied sage Parashurama.

Having obtained all the weapons from the sage, Drona then went to see his childhood friend turned King Drupada.

He announced himself to the King,’ I am Drona the son of Maharishi Bharadwaj and your child hood friend’.

Drupada looked at him as he would look some unworthy object and said to him.’ You are a poor man and I am a King. How can friendship be between you and me? It may be true that we were child hood friends. But our stations in life have changed’.

‘Friendship, marriage or enmity could be only with equals. It cannot be sustained between a rich and a poor man, a learned and a fool and between a hero and a coward’.
Having come thus far, ask anything that you may desire. I am a King and I will grant your wish. Don’t ask anything out of any notion of friendship’.

Drona didn’t expect this kind of a treatment from a friend. He turned away from the King Drupada.

He couldn’t bear this insult. Day in and day out this insult rankled him. He forgot to sleep. These words of the King Drupada always played in his ears.

Years later he would groom his students Kauravas and the Pandavas and would imprison Drupada and take half his Kingdom and thus take revenge on him. But that is long time after.

In contrast to this is the friendship between Krishna and Sudhama. They formed a lasting friendship.

After their studies they went their own way.

Sudhama was a poor Brahman with little ambitions. He married a woman and raised a family. Being poor and with contentment he always found himself in the want. He found his life miserable.

In the meanwhile Krishna had become the King of the Mathura. Though Krishna was his friend he would never think of approaching him for any help.
His wife pestered him to go and seek the audience of Krishna. He would accept it reluctantly.

For the meeting he would take only the parched rice as his offering to his friend and King of Mathura.

Krishna! Oh Krishna! My beloved Krishna! I am coming there to see you and I am not coming there to ask anything of you. You are the lord of the Universe. It is my goodness that I am able to befriend you.

With these thoughts he went to see Krishna.

Krishna would give him a royal welcome. He would wash his feet himself. He would ask his wife Rukmini to wash his feet and also to fan his friend, the poor Sudhama.
He would ask Sudhama what he had brought for Him. Sudhama would feel shy to even show him his bundle of parched rice.

Krishna would forcibly take it from him and start to eat the parched rice.
The next day Sudhama would walk back to his home. He was happy that he didn’t ask anything from his friend. He was very happy to be in the company of Krishna.

He would think that the Goddess of wealth Lakshmi born as Rukmini had fanned him.

He had no words to describe his feelings of his meeting his friend.

When he came back to his village he was astonished to see the changes. Without even his asking the Lord Krishna had blessed him with wealth.

In place of his hut there was a mansion and his wife and children were wearing good clothes and ornaments.

Seeing this transformation Sudhama thought that the Lord had blessed him out of his own compassion. Again this was a test to him. Lord wants to see whether he will be remembering Him once he got the wealth.

But Sudhama would never forget Lord and was always the same humble Sudhama.