A merchant in Anga had three friends. The first he loved above all and entertained every day with feasts. The second he trusted next, and helped through every difficulty. The third he met only occasionally, when the others were busy. One day a royal summons came for him at midnight — a charge that would cost him his life if proven. Terrified, he ran first to his closest friend. "I cannot help you tonight," said the friend. He ran to the second. "I can walk with you to the city gate, no further," said the second. Desperate, he came to the third — the friend he had neglected. "I will walk with you all the way," said the third, "and stand beside you before any judge." The first friend, said the Jain teaching that gave us this parable, is wealth — which abandons us at death. The second is family — who can walk with us only to the cremation ground. The third is dharma — the only friend who follows the soul into the next birth.