Male bonding inspired by krishnarjun? A study

Aatmaa hi krishnah parthasya, krishnasyaatma. Dhananjayah. Partha's soul is krishna and krishna's soul is Dhananjaya, In our modern age,friendship between two men is given a sensational name,Male bonding. Sounds different,no? Sticking together,eating together having fun together what not? They literally live together. They call each other buddy. It sinks with their youthfulness,energy levels, It's okay with us. But just an interesting journey into our past ages will make us feel nostalgic .After all we Indians have such glorious history and tradition to talk about. So how did it start? Before merging into the honey filled ocean of krishna arjun bonding,let us travel back to krit yug and Treta yug to see if any such inspiring friendships exist that make us feel enthralled and enlightened.

Sivasya hridayam vishnuh, vishnoh, hridayam sivah. Siva's heart is vishnu, vishnu's heart is Siva. There is much understanding and comradiare,between,the two most powerful deities,Narayan and Mahadev. They tackle the most trivial issues of the universe, with such lan that no one can miss their concern for each other .Concern also is a shade of friendship no? They share their responsibilities like If Shiv drinks poison,at the time of samudra Madhav Vishnu becomes the tortoise,the adi kurma and bears mandar parvat. If shiv kills Jalandhar, Tripuraasur,etc, Vishnu takes avataras to kill Raavan, kams,etc. Vishnu recites Siva's thousand names siva sahasranama and Shiv gives The most powerful mantra to Paarvati in place of the thousand names of Vishnu that is Sri Rama Rama ramekin rame raame,manorame, sahasranama naama tattulyam Rama Nama varaanane. Another interesting aspect is Vishnu considers Paarvati as his sister. She is Padmanabha sahodari, Madhuraminakshi Temple sthala Puran says that Vishnu,the varadaraj has performed the marriage of minaakshi,that is parvati with sundareswar that is shiva. We recite uma sahasranama which calls her as Vishnu sahodari.So like Krishna and Arjun who are brother in laws by relation and friends by their love for each other,Shiv and Vishnu are in fact the first example of exhibiting such exemplary friendship or comradiare.

Another interesting friendship that we witness is between Siva and the king of yakshas,Kuber. Sivapuran tells the story of Gunanidhi,a son of Yajnadatta,a Brahmin who became kubera,due to the grace of Siva.Kubera did severe penance to become the king of Alakapuri,and also The Lord of riches. Siva graced him and said that he will live nearer to Alakapuri and maintain close friendship with Kubera. Siva's kailasa is nearer to Alakapuri and Kubera used to visit The Lord too often and spend time with him.Markandeya's Chandrasekharastakam,which is extremely famous consists the word yaksha raajasakham,,the friend of king of Yakshas. So we see another type of friendship he re between The Lord and his devotee.

If we come to Tretayug, we find more such friendships that make alasting impression.One example is the friendship between Sriram and Sugriv. Ramsugriv maitri is praised for its longetivity, loyalty snd commitment. Even though It is termed as a friendship that happened for a reason, it surely stands out. Purushottam Sriram and Vanar Sugriv met through Hanumanand pledged each other a friendship for eternity,and fire god is the witness. Of course there is this mutual help clause involved which dictates Rama to kill Vali and help Sugriv to become the king of Kishkindha kingdom and in return Sugriva has to help Rama trace Sita and help Rama get her back. Still their friendship flourished naturally and made them stick to each other even after the mutual tasks were completed.

Sriram and Sugriv may not be such friends who enjoy together or share their secrets. Nothing like that. But they have shared a common pain both have been separated from their wives.Sugriv's wife Ruma.is a captive in vaali's palace. Sita was abducted by Ravan and kept in Lanka. So they are aware of each other's agony. That made them bound together and help each other come out of the crisis. There are times when their friendship was made to face the test of times like when,Sugriva happily enjoys with his wives and followers after becoming the king of knishkindha due vaali's death at the hands of Rama.All this while Sriram suffers not having any relief ,uncertain about Sita's where abouts . He feels bad on the behaviour of Sugriv and sends Lakshman to him. Of course Sugriv mends his ways and sends his warriors in search of Sita. This single instance can not make their friendship turn sour.

Dwaparyug. The age that witnessed the biggest battle ever fought. The age of conceit, Treachary,Greed...what not? But it is the age that feel proud to have the complete avatara of vishnu. Vishnu in totality Vishnu in full manifestation of his Devine power. Along with,Dwapar can boast of precsenting the mankind the Devine song The Bhagawadgita. It also showcased the universe the most vibrant,most endearing and the most sincere friendship between Narayan Krishna and Nar,arjun. Let us go deep into their great journey of being friends since the day they met till the end. Before going further I want to state the ultimate truth in the words of krishna, regarding Arjun. Yasmaatpriyataro. Naasti. Mamanyo purusho Bhuvi, Naadeyam. Kinchidapi. Daara putraastatha. There is no one on this earth more dearer to me than Parth. There is nothing that I can not give him my wives,my sons. ..What made the god admit such love for a cousin? How did they work together? How did they compliment each other, on both planes,physical and mental? Let us explore the ideal friendship as presented by Vedvyas in The Mbh.

As per the Mahabharat, the two of them met after the Swayamvar,at the potter's hut. The spark of friendship must have started then only but the narration of Vyasa does'nt spare much page space at that moment as the focus is more on the division of draupadi the Panchendras Episode and so on. Point to observe is Krishna's non interference in that matter as he leaves the hut immediately after wishing them. He did not accompany them to Hastinapur even. So The second instance only will help us the evolution of their friendship. That happened during the pilgrimage of Arjun, when he reaches Prabhasbteerth and of course Dwaraka. This meeting definitely makes us enlightened and get to the intensity of the friendship that flourished so well in the coming days.

When Arjun went on Pilgrimage for twelve years,having broken the vow ,he came to Prabhasa teerth that is nearer to Dwaraka. Krishna heard of his arrival and went to meet him. Tato abhyagachat kaunteyam ...Both the friends embraced each other ,enquired each other's welfare. Astam. Priyasakhayaau tau naranarayanaavrishi. The two friends who are none other than Nar and Narayan, the ancient sages sported there for some time. We may assume that as Prabhas is a seashore spot, they must have had fun in water sports. ...Mahidharam. Raivatakam. Vasayai vabhijagmatuh. Later both the friends went to RIvataka mountain where already arrangements have been made for their stay on the order of Krishna. Vedavyasa says Purvameva cha krishnasya vachanat. . So this shows how eagerly Krishna waited for Arjun . Arjun ate the rich food arranged for him,and along with krishna, watched the performances of actors and dancers.Sahaiva vaasudevena drushtavan nata nartakaan. After dispersing them, Arjun lied down relaxingly on an excellent bed and narrated his experiences to krishna. who listened to him with great attention. After that sleep took over him and Arjun got up listening to the melodious notes on vena.Madhurena gitena, veenasabdena. Then Arjun went through the ceremonies as instructed by Krishna and started for Dwaraka on a golden chariot. The whole narration helps us gauze through the great bond shared by the two . How normal is the way they enjoyed.Just like any two friends,sporting together, chanting together,eating together,enjoying together. Mentally they are of the same wave length and physically they are of the same age almost. They even shared their complexion. Hence the two krishnas shine together.

There is this famous verse that tells about friendship.Dadati, Pratigrihnati, guhyamakhyati, prichati. Bhunkte.bhojayateva shadvidham pritilakshanam. Giving, taking. Telling secrets, sharing secrets, fEating from them,Feeding them These six are the signs of friendship. Our Krishna and Arjun fulfilled all these. They give each other, They share secrets, They enjoy feeding each other. They are much like today's' cosy friends who go to holiday spots and enjoy away leaving the world behind. Before taking his Parth to Dwaraka Krishna desired to enjoy with him on Raivataka mountain which became their picnic spot. We never see this kind of togetherness of Krishna with any other character in the Epic. Hence Madhav and Parth certainly inspired the friendships in general and friends in particular.

Arjun's Dwaraka Visit. When Arjun visited Dwaraka ,the whole Dwaraka welcomed him.Alankrita Dwaraka tu. babhuva kuntisutasya poojartham. Thousands of women came and mixed up with men on the roads of Dwaraka to have a look at Arjun. Didrukshavasya kaunteyam. Dwarakavasino Janaah. So it shows Krishna's love for Arjun as he took pleasure in getting the whole Dwaraka ready to welcome his friend. Not to ignore the thousands of ladies who thronged the streets to see Arjun. Krishnaswamy Bhavane ...uvaasa saha Krishna. So where did Krishna keep him? In his own mansion. We can connect with the way Krishna dealt with Parth as it is quite normal if any of our close friends visit our place naturally he will be welcomed by the whole family. And he will share our personal room only. So theirs is the natural friendship that flourished and showed the later generations how friendship should be valued.