pachai maamalai pol mene

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

a time-barred definition, no longer good in law

पापात् निवारयति योजयते हिताय गुह्यं निगूहति गुणान् प्रकटीकरोति।
आपद्गतं च न जहाति ददाति काले सन्मित्रलक्षणमिदं प्रवदन्ति सन्तः ।।
barthruhari neethistakam

paapaat nivarayathi yojayathey hithaya guhyam nigoohathi gunan prakateekarothi
aapatagatham cha na jahaathi dhadhathi  kaley  sanmitralakshanamidham  pravadanthi santhah

പാപാത് നിവാരയതി യോജയതേ ഹിതായ ഗുഹ്യം നിഗൂഹതി ഗുണംപ്രകടീകരോതി
ആപദ്ഗതം ച ന ജഹാതി ദദാതി കാലേ സന്മിത്രലക്ഷണമിദംപ്രവദന്തി സന്തഃ

The qualities of a good friend are defined by the noble and learned persons in the following manner.
 A good friend will not permit you to commit a sinful act but disssuade you from such action at any cost.He works always for your good and he introduces you to other noble souls  for your own benefit.
If you have a secret which is to be guarded and if you share it with a real friend, he will keep your confidence and never expose you ( this is the best part of friendship)  .
A true friend is always eager to praise and bring to limelight the excellent qualities which may be perhaps hidden in you.
 A good friend will never forsake you when you are in mortal danger.
 And in the most needful hours he will help you with resources and money . 

If one is to study this definition fully one may perhaps wonder if there can be any true friend other than the yet unseen God.  Daman and Pythias and Krishna and Kuchlea are all fictional characters...Okey , we can consider ourselves gifted if we have friends who will conform to at least one tenth of the above criteria.  Keeping a friend's secret and helping him with money at the crunch hour appear to be alien to normal human nature.
Barthruhari sir, it is nice that you are not alive now for a long time, or else, many of your friends would have sold you for even for a fraction   of the price they decided for God Jesus which was thirty silver coins.

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