There are three things that are criteria for a relationship being called sambandh.
One, I told you, paripoorn - It has to be absolutely complete.
Number two, it has to be eternal. I already explained this to you that only our soul relationship to Shri Krishna is eternal. Our physical relations, since they depend on the existence of our body, and the body itself is temporary, so those relationships are also temporary.
The third criterion is that a true relationship is swārth rahit (selfless). Shri Krishna doesn't have any self interest in His relationship with us. He's only looking to grace us with His Divine love.
In the world, there is a foundation of self-interest. This is not an indictment of worldly relations. It's not a criticism of our worldly relations. It's just the reality. When a person is bereft of the thing they need, in other words, happiness, they're going to be looking for it in every aspect of their life, including their relationships. That desire to be happy governs everything we do. Then how could we have a relationship bereft of self interest? Our self interest dominates our thinking. Where will I find happiness? How can I get happiness? Will you give me happiness? Can I find happiness in this person?
Did you ever look at a person to whom you were attracted thinking that, “You know, oh, maybe this person could be my friend?” Did you ever do so with the idea in your mind, if they became my friend, I could make them happy? No. You do so with the idea, if they become my friend, I'll be happy. So this swārth (selfishness) is the basis for all of our relationships. It's hidden. It's unspoken, but it's there in everything we do. It's okay to acknowledge it. There's nothing wrong with it. That's the nature of worldly relationships. We're all beggars, and when we engage in relationships with each other we're begging from each other, “I'm bereft of happiness. Do you have happiness?” And you are also a beggar, so you're saying, “I don't have what he's looking for, but maybe he has what I'm looking for. So let me pretend I have what he's looking for.”
In other words, I'll behave in such a way that he thinks he will get happiness from me. And in that way, when he becomes my friend, maybe I'll get happiness from him. And I'm thinking the very same thing. “Donon dhokha de rahe hain ek dusare ko” (both are cheating on each other). It's so funny that we know we're bereft of happiness, and yet we assume the other person has the happiness. If they had it, why would they be looking to us for happiness?
We don't get that far in our thought process, unfortunately. We just assume everybody must have something. No. We're all beggars. So anyway, only our relationship with Shri Krishna can be called sambandh (relationship) because it is swārth rahit (selfless), at least from His side. It is eternal, and it is paripoorn (perfect). We have all the relationships with Him.
