Four naive Brahmins, who were great friends, lived in a certain town.
One day, they decided to study hard and acquire knowledge. They would then be able to make money. It was decided that they would require going to a different town to do that.
So, they travelled to a new city, and joined a hermitage to further their study. For twelve years they studied very hard, and mastered many fields of knowledge.
One day, they discussed, "Now that we have finally acquired sufficient knowledge in many branches of science, let us ask our Guru's permission to depart from this hermitage. We are finally prepared to earn money by applying our knowledge."
They asked their Guru's permission, who blessed them for success. They then started to travel, with all the shastras (holy books of knowledge). After travelling for a while, they came across an intersection, where the path was divided into two different directions.
They started pondering on which path they should take to further their travel.
Meanwhile, a merchant's son had died in a nearby town. As they stood pondering, a huge funeral procession headed their way. The procession included several prominent people, and they were going to the cremation ground.
Consulting the scriptures of the shastras, one of the Brahmins declared, "The right path to follow is the path taken by great men!" Thus, they decided to take the same path as that of the funeral procession.
On reaching the cremation ground, the people in the funeral procession stopped, and initiated the funeral proceedings. Now, they started pondering what course of action they should take next.
While pondering such, they saw a donkey nearby. Consulting the scriptures of the shastras, a Brahmin declared, "A true friend is one who stands by you on all occasions. Be the occasion joyous or sad!"
