Shloka 5
Citraketu’s Detachment, Nārada’s Mantra, and the Darśana of Anantadeva
बन्धुज्ञात्यरिमध्यस्थमित्रोदासीनविद्विष: । सर्व एव हि सर्वेषां भवन्ति क्रमशो मिथ: ॥ ५ ॥
bandhu-jñāty-ari-madhyastha- mitrodāsīna-vidviṣaḥ sarva eva hi sarveṣāṁ bhavanti kramaśo mithaḥ
കാലക്രമേണ എല്ലാവരും എല്ലാവർക്കും സുഹൃത്തുക്കളും, ബന്ധുക്കളും, ശത്രുക്കളും, മധ്യസ്ഥരും, ഉദാസീനരുമായി മാറുന്നു. ഈ ബന്ധങ്ങളൊന്നും ശാശ്വതമല്ല.
It is our practical experience in this material world that the same person who is one’s friend today becomes one’s enemy tomorrow. Our relationships as friends or enemies, family men or outsiders, are actually the results of our different dealings. Citraketu Mahārāja was lamenting for his son, who was now dead, but he could have considered the situation otherwise. “This living entity,” he could have thought, “was my enemy in my last life, and now, having appeared as my son, he is prematurely leaving just to give me pain and agony.” Why should he not consider his dead son his former enemy and instead of lamenting be jubilant because of an enemy’s death? As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (3.27) , prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ: factually everything is happening because of our association with the modes of material nature. Therefore one who is my friend today in association with the mode of goodness may be my enemy tomorrow in association with the modes of passion and ignorance. As the modes of material nature work, in illusion we accept others as friends, enemies, sons or fathers in terms of the reactions of different dealings under different conditions.
FAQs
This verse states that people mutually become friends, enemies, relatives, neutral parties, or indifferent/hateful persons in due course—relationships shift with time and circumstance in material life.
He highlights the instability of worldly bonds to encourage detachment and sober understanding, preparing the listener to seek lasting shelter in devotion rather than fluctuating social roles.
Recognize that roles and alliances change; act with dharma and compassion, but place your deepest reliance on spiritual principles and devotion, not on temporary social equations.