पापान्निवारयति योजयते हिताय
गुह्यं निगूहति गुणान् प्रकटीकरोति |
आपद्गतं च न जहाति ददाति काले
सन्मित्रलक्षणमिदं प्रवदन्ति सन्ताः ||
-भर्तृहरि (नीतिशतक)
Meaning – Wise and noble persons have pronounced that the symptoms
of a true friend are that he prevents us from committing sinful deeds and urges us to do things that are advantageous to us, keeps our secrets and brings out our virtues and qualities, does not desert us when we face misfortune, and helps us whenever we are in need of any help.
Dear readers, after reading the above shlok I do not want to start writing long commentaries on it as it us self explanatory. But yes surely will like to raise questions and try to answer them. I expect that you will answer them to yourself too.
Do I have a friend with whom I can talk freely, without any inhibitions?
Do I have a friend who accepts me as I am and never tries to mould me?
Do I have a friend who tells me what is good for me and what is bad?
Do I have a friend what are the good qualities in me which I need to work upon?
Do I have a friend who tells me my vices in private and urges me to give them away?
Do I have a friend with whom I would be very comfortable talking about any thing in this world?
Do I have a friend who shares his secrets too?
Do I have a friend who never runs away in difficult situations?
Do I have a friend whom I can rely upon for everything in life?
Do I have a friend who fights for me and stands by me?
Do I have a friend who never lies to me and for me?
Dear Readers, there can be many more questions which one can ask and try to answer. The questions even might sound repetitive but we need to think and answer.
If the answer to even one of the above questions is “YES“, then we need to keep this friend forever like how we would keep a precuious thing forever.
Will end with a Hindi poem written by Maithilisharan Gupta about friendship:
तप्त हृदय को, सरस स्नेह से,
जो सहला दे, मित्र वही है।
रूखे मन को, सराबोर कर,
जो नहला दे, मित्र वही है।
प्रिय वियोग, संतप्त चित्त को ,
जो बहला दे, मित्र वही है।
अश्रु बूँद की, एक झलक से ,
जो दहला दे, मित्र वही है।
Wishing you all a very Happy Friendship Day.
Link to the previous blogs:
Indian first 
So beautiful words!!
Having such people around is so fortunate.
I wanted to ask how many ‘Yes’ answers you got?
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