Article

 Influence of companions in life

Our companions play a very important role in our lives.

They also shape our character and personality.

It is said that we become the average of the five people we choose to stay with.

Therefore, the selection of our companions or associates has to be done very carefully and consciously.

In the great epic Ramayana, there is a story that demonstrates the effect of our associates on us.

When king Dasharath announced the crowning of Ram as the next king, queen Kaikeyi was equally happy as she loved Ram as much as she loved her own son Bharat.

But later, Manthara, her maid, poisoned her thoughts.

 She told Kaikeyi that she should make use of the boon that Dasarath had granted her.

She should stop him from crowning Ram as the king, so that her own son could be the next king.

Kaikeyi asked Dasarath to grant her the boon and asked him to crown Bharat as King and send Ram away on exile for 14 years. 

This shows how our associates can influence our decisions and thinking.

The people we associate with even determine our relations with others. Just as Manthara’s association separated Kaikeyi from her loved ones and brought her down in the eyes of her near and dear ones, we too can become a victim of bad association.

The separation of Kaikeyi from Rama also symbolises that when we decide to let bad advice control us, we get separated from God and goodness.

In Mahabharata, we see that the Pandavas triumph in the war whereas the Kauravas got defeated.

This is because of Kuru’s association with Shakuni. While the Pandavas chose Lord Krishna as their advisor, the Kauravas had Shakuni as their associate.

 In the battle of life, whether we emerge as the winner or loser, whether we become successful or not is determined by whether we choose Lord Krishna (goodness) or Shakuni (ignorance) as our leading example.

Karna is another personality in the Mahabharata.

He was the son of the Sun God.

He had astonishing capabilities, but became a villain in everyone’s eyes just because of his association with Duryodhana.

He used his powers for Duryodhana and he let himself be controlled by Duryodhana’s negativity.

Another personality is Ashwathama, the son of Drona (the teacher of the Pandavas and the Kauravas).

He too chose to be with Duryodhana and directed his powers in the wrong direction.

Such is the influence of our companions on us.

Therefore, we need to be careful while choosing our friends.

We cannot avoid negative people around us.

Kaikeyi too couldn’t avoid Manthara, but she should have ignored her words and provocations!

As the famous saying goes, “A ship does not sink because of the water around it, but because of the water that gets into it.”

Likewise, even if we are around negative people, if we let ourselves get controlled by their negativity, then it can harm us.

So, even if we are around negative people, we should make ourselves strong enough to stay unaffected.

Good association can make our lives so much better and positive.