Shloka 162
आपद्धर्मनिर्णयः — विश्वामित्र-श्वपचसंवादः
Apaddharma Determination: Dialogue of Viśvāmitra and the Śvapaca
सा गता सह तेनैव कालयुक्तेन हेतुना । “पहले जब उपयुक्त कारण था, तब हम दोनोंमें मैत्री हो गयी थी, किंतु कालने जिसे उपस्थित कर दिया था उस कारणके निवृत्त होनेके साथ ही वह मैत्री भी चली गयी ।। १६१ ई || त्वं हि मे जातितः शत्रु: सामर्थ्यान्मित्रतां गत:
sā gatā saha tenaiva kālayuktena hetunā | tvaṁ hi me jātitaḥ śatruḥ sāmarthyān mitratāṁ gataḥ ||
Bhishma said: “That friendship too passed away, along with that very cause which had been brought about by Time. For you are, by birth, my enemy; only through capability and circumstance did you come to the state of friendship.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma highlights the instability of worldly alliances: relationships formed due to a time-bound cause dissolve when that cause ends. He also distinguishes innate hostility (by birth/lineage) from pragmatic friendship created by circumstance and power.
In Bhishma’s discourse, he reflects on a relationship that once became friendly because Time presented a suitable cause; when that cause ceased, the friendship ended. He addresses the other party as a natural enemy who had temporarily become a friend due to capability and circumstance.