Chit Oo Nyo - Kosambi

If you associate with bad friends, unfulfilled unwholesome deeds will arise and your good deeds will diminish. On the contrary, if you associate with good friends, unfulfilled unwholesome deeds will arise and your bad deeds will diminish.

In the circle of friends, there are two kinds of people: bad and good. Association with bad friends is the strongest external factor that can cause many negative consequences. Association with good friends is the strongest external factor that can cause many positive consequences.

Two people who were able to embody this principle well in their lives were King Allakappa and King Vethtadeepa. Although they were born and raised in different parts of the country, these two kings became close friends from their early youth. They were not obsessed with their own country, their own father, or the wealth of their own throne, but they were like brothers in the same womb.

| The two young princes, who met while learning from the same teacher, agreed on everything.

“In their youth, young men are naturally attached to their friends. This is natural. However, when the time came, the two princes returned to their respective countries. According to the royal family’s lineage, they were appointed as the royal princes. During their royal life, the two princes kept in touch with each other, exchanging messages, sending gifts, and meeting by appointment, going out to play in the forest, and holding garden festivals.

Not long ago, when the two kings of the two countries passed away, Prince Alakapa and Prince Vethtadeepa succeeded their father as kings. Even though they had become two kings, their bond of friendship did not weaken, but rather grew stronger. The anger, pride, and power of the kings did not arise in the world of friendship. The two kings lived happily in one country for two years.

The countries of Alakappa and Veththideepa were ten yujanas in size. The two kings also showed their friendship in the trade and commerce of the country. Therefore, they were initially peaceful and prosperous.

They would visit each other from time to time and manage all matters together. The teacher, who had studied with the two princes when they were young, was delighted to hear from afar that the two disciples were good friends. However...

That union eventually led to separation. And that separation was not due to any other magic, but rather the decision of the two masters of the body.

The two like-minded princes, while sitting in the garden, noticed each other's uneasiness.

"My friend, while I am sitting in a beautiful garden, your face is gloomy. What is wrong?"

"I was just about to ask my friend this question."

The two of them looked at each other in surprise.

They talk back and forth with an unprecedented level of intimacy and openness, without any need for secrecy.

"I'm getting tired of living like this, my friend."

"Yes, I'm not as happy as I used to be."

“We humans are born, we grow up, we live, and we die. I ponder this great process.”

"Yes, our fathers, look, they were born. They grew up. They were kings and queens, just like us, during the reign of their fathers. Then they died."

King Allakappa sighed and continued.

"We are also traveling this same route."

King Veththideepa shook his head and said.

"They walk straight and upright, without turning."

"I had to give up everything"

"No one came after my death."

They said almost the same thing.

"Death will also tear our friendship apart."

"I can't follow you after you die, and you can't follow me after I die."

They fell silent. They looked into the distance. It was a sight they could not see. They saw the clouds drifting across the blue sky, changing in an instant.

They were standing far away, and then slowly turned their faces and looked at each other. Two words emerged as if they were consulting.

"We can't gain anything by living in society."

"I will renounce the wealth of the people and become a monk."

Dividing the kingdom between his sons and wives, King Allakappa and King Vethtadeepaka became hermits and went to the Himalayas. Living in the Himalayas, which were filled with only the forests and birds of nature, the monks practiced the Dhamma. Together they went out to gather fresh fruits and eggs. They drank water and took walks. They cleaned and polished the wooden monastery.

Many days passed. Going out together to fetch water, the two hermits settled down on a shady rock near a small stream. The flowing water of the stream, flowing smoothly, brushed against the rock and split into two streams, one stream flowing in a circle around a small bush. The other stream flowing between the pebbles continued on its way.

The two hermits watched in awe as a stream of water, which had been flowing from a certain place up and down, brushed against a rock and then split into two separate streams, continuing to flow. Then they looked at each other.

"We didn't become hermits because we couldn't make a living."

"We have renounced our wealth and become hermits."

They recite a song, a verse, over and over again.

"If you give up your wealth and become a hermit, then you two live together in one place."