Thick as thieves!

Yesterday being Friendship day, I thought I’d write something about friendship and friends.

In all my life, I’ve heard of and read several stories about great friends and true friendship. But the story of friendship that stands out in my mind is that between Karna and Duryodhana. Yes, these two were considered the villains in Mahabharata but whoever said that you need to be on the good side to be considered great friends?

Karna was the son of Kunti; the mother of the Pandavas; she begot him before she married King Pandu of Hastinapur. Abandoned by his mother immediately after his birth, he was found and raised by a charioteer and hence was denied the privilege of being called a Kshatriya throughout his life, in spite of being one. He was denied a royal education by Dronacharya but yet, through self belief and painstaking effort, made himself one of the foremost of warriors.

Duryodhana, in his quest for powerful allies made Karna a king of the province of Anga. That gesture on his part made Karna indebted to Duryodhana throughout his life. Their friendship never once wavered. Karna was a righteous man and he knew that his friend was as nasty as they come. Yet, he stood by him. The toughest test of friendship though was yet to come. Days before the battle of Kurukshetra, his real mother Kunti revealed to Karna the actual circumstances of his birth. She requested that he fight on the side of the Pandavas. What comes next is hard to beat. Kunti told him that Yudhisthira would relinquish his claim to the throne and Karna would be emperor of the Bharat Varsh. Karna knew without doubt that if the Pandavas and especially Yudhisthira came to know that he was their elder brother, they would welcome him and respect him as one. He also knew Yudhisthira would unflinchingly give up the throne of Hastinapur if he came to know the truth.

Karna had everything before him. Yet, being the great man that he was, he politely refused Kunti’s offer. He told her that Duryodhana was his friend and that he wouldn’t under ANY circumstance abandon him and put his friendship in jeopardy.

I know it’s hard to believe; but well, that is surely the hallmark of true friendship. That you stand by your friends no matter what. As I experience more and more of life, I am further convinced that one should have a few true friends; friends that you would stand by no matter what, and who would do the same for you; not that it’s bad to have many friends, but that it’s not possible to please and stand by each and every one of them at all times; because inevitably there will be conflicts of interest. You cannot please everyone in this world.