Importance of keeping good company

In today’s world, no one can be classified as wholly good or bad. We all lie in the realms of different shades of grey. It will be in our best interests to work on our values, attitude and behaviour and work our way through lighter shades of grey with the aim of arriving in the white zone.

Satsangam can make the journey of our life more meaningful if we make it a point to be in the company of people who are principled and ethical to a large extent. If we associate with people with low moral calibre it could become detrimental to our progress and sometimes our very life.

A story from the Panchatantra enunciates this message pointedly. Once there lived a louse called Mandavisarpini, on the bedstead of a powerful king.

She would climb onto his hair when he was in deep sleep. She would nibble his scalp and lick a little of his blood before climbing out and reaching her home before the king woke up.

One day a bed bug called Agnimukha wandered into the royal cot.

He hoped to taste royal blood during his stay there. He approached the louse and revealed his intention to her. Mandavisarpini said that he could help himself to the blood when the king was fast asleep and leave the premises. The bed bug agreed.

Yet, when the king came and lay down on his bed, Agnimukha could not stop drooling. He threw caution to the winds and went right ahead to feast on the regal blood. Once satiated, he disappeared into a crevice.

The king felt the stinging sensation. He summoned his servants to check his bed for insects.

The minion sighted the louse and crushed it to death, while the bed bug fled to freedom. What does this tell us?

An analysis of the story will reveal that both the louse and the bed bug were doing pretty much the same thing that is sucking the king’s blood.

While the louse did it for survival, the bedbug did it to fulfill a gourmet’s desire.

Agnimukha disregarded the warning of his hostess and was his own counsel. His successful binge, spelt the death of the louse. Many of us like the louse tend to become unwitting victims by keeping company of the not so good.