Shloka 5
Nārada and Aṅgirā Instruct Citraketu: Impermanence, Ātma-Tattva, and Mantra-Upadeśa
वयं च त्वं च ये चेमे तुल्यकालाश्चराचरा: । जन्ममृत्योर्यथा पश्चात् प्राङ्नैवमधुनापि भो: ॥ ५ ॥
vayaṁ ca tvaṁ ca ye ceme tulya-kālāś carācarāḥ janma-mṛtyor yathā paścāt prāṅ naivam adhunāpi bhoḥ
Ô roi, toi et nous—tes conseillers, tes épouses et tes ministres—ainsi que tout ce qui est mobile et immobile dans le cosmos en ce temps, sommes dans une condition passagère. Avant la naissance, cet état n’existait pas, et après la mort il n’existera plus; ainsi le présent est temporaire, sans être mensonge.
The Māyāvādī philosophers say, brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā: Brahman, the living being, is factual, but his present bodily situation is false. According to the Vaiṣṇava philosophy, however, the present situation is not false but temporary. It is like a dream. A dream does not exist before one falls asleep, nor does it continue after one awakens. The period for dreaming exists only between these two, and therefore it is false in the sense that it is impermanent. Similarly, the entire material creation, including our own creation and those of others, is impermanent. We do not lament for the situation in a dream before the dream takes place or after it is over, and so during the dream, or during a dreamlike situation, one should not accept it as factual and lament about it. This is real knowledge.
FAQs
This verse teaches that distinctions created by birth and death do not touch the eternal self; before birth and after death the separations vanish, and even now they are ultimately not absolute.
Narada spoke to relieve Citraketu’s grief and restore his spiritual vision, reminding him that all beings are bound by time and that bodily identities are temporary, while the soul’s reality is beyond such changes.
Remember the temporary nature of bodily relationships, reflect on the soul’s continuity, and redirect the heart toward devotion and service—transforming grief into steady spiritual practice.