“How Many Friends Do You Have?”
Before joining the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning by the grace of our Lord, I had received a few chances of experiencing minute drops of His divine leela [play]. Here I wish to share with you one such drop that had a profound impact on me.
The event took place this year when Swami was in Madras [Chennai]. Swami went straight to a young boy and asked him, “How many brothers have you?” The boy said, “Swami, I do not have brothers and I am the only son.”
Immediately, Swami pointed to the persons who were there and asked the boy, “Are they not your brothers?” Swami went and asked another boy the same question, and the reply Swami got was the same.
The innate imitativeness in me made me think that if Swami comes and asks me I should say that all are my brothers. The next day the Lord came near me. His nearness made me completely forget myself, and I was inches above the ground. The omniscient Lord in His sweet voice asked, “Where is your brother studying?” “He is studying in Swami’s college,” I said. Then Swami asked, “How many brothers do you have?” Quick came the reply, “One, Swami.” With a mischievous smile Swami asked, “Are the people who are standing here not your brothers?” Completely flabbergasted, I had nothing to say except nodding my head.
To prick my imitative bubble a little more, Swami went a few steps, then turned back and asked, “How many friends do you have?” My foolish mind equated at lightning speed that if all are to be my brothers why not all be my friends, and I blurted out, “Swami, all are my friends.”
The Lord looked directly into my eyes inquiringly and asked, “What! All are your friends?” Before I could answer Swami continued, “What do your so-called friends do when you are in trouble? They will be with you until they see money in your pockets. The moment they come to know that you are penniless, they quietly vanish, like the frogs going away from a dried up pond. But Sai is not like that. Whatever may be the trouble, Sai will not forsake you. He is always for you, with you and in you. Your one and only friend must be Sai.” Overwhelmed completely, I could do nothing but watch the Lord moving slowly far away from me.
Let us ponder for a while. What a revelation! Arjuna had Krishna as his one and only friend. The Lord Himself asks us to keep Him as our one and only friend. But what a pity that we, out of ignorance, add on to the unending list of friends, leaving the Lord all alone without any friends.
~C.N. Kshetrajna
Source: Sai Nandana 1985 (60th Birthday Issue)
