Speaker: Arjuna
Verses 41 to 42 are read together as one text.
सखेति मत्वा प्रसभं यदुक्तं
हे कृष्ण हे यादव हे सखेति ।
अजानता महिमानं तवेदं
मया प्रमादात्प्रणयेन वापि ॥४१॥
यच्चावहासार्थमसत्कृतोऽसि
विहारशय्यासनभोजनेषु ।
एकोऽथवाप्यच्युत तत्समक्षं
तत्क्षामये त्वामहमप्रमेयम् ॥४२॥
sakheti matvā prasabhaṁ yad uktaṁ
he kṛṣṇa he yādava he sakheti
ajānatā mahimānaṁ tavedaṁ
mayā pramādāt praṇayena vāpi
yac cāvahāsārtham asat-kṛto 'si
vihāra-śayyāsana-bhojaneṣu
eko 'tha vāpy acyuta tat-samakṣaṁ
tat kṣāmaye tvām aham aprameyam
Word for word (synonyms)
- sakhā
- friend
- iti
- thus
- matvā
- thinking
- prasabham
- temporary
- yat
- whatever
- uktam
- said
- he krṣṇa
- O Kṛṣṇa
- he yādava
- O Yādava
- he sakhā iti
- O my dear friend
- ajānatā
- without knowing
- mahimānam
- glories
- tava
- Your
- idam
- this
- mayā
- by me
- pramādāt
- out of foolishness
- pranayena
- out of love
- vā api
- either
- yat
- whatever
- ca
- also
- avahāsārtham
- for joking
- asatkṛtaḥ
- dishonor
- asi
- have been done
- vihāra
- in relaxation
- śayyā
- in joking
- āsana
- in a resting place
- bhojaneṣu
- or while eating together
- ekaḥ
- alone
- athavā
- or
- api
- others
- acyuta
- O infallible one
- tat-samakṣam
- as Your competitor
- tat
- all those
- kṣāmaye
- excuse
- tvām
- You
- aham
- I
- aprameyam
- immeasurable
Translation
I have in the past addressed You as “O Kṛṣṇa,” “O Yādava,” “O my friend,” without knowing Your glories. Please forgive whatever I may have done in madness or in love. I have dishonored You many times while relaxing or while lying on the same bed or eating together, sometimes alone and sometimes in front of many friends. Please excuse me for all my offenses.
Purport
Although Kṛṣṇa is manifested before Arjuna in His universal form, Arjuna remembers his friendly relationship with Kṛṣṇa and is therefore asking pardon and requesting Him to excuse him for the many informal gestures which arise out of friendship. He is admitting that formerly he did not know that Kṛṣṇa could assume such a universal form, although He explained it as his intimate friend. Arjuna did not know how many times he may have dishonored Him by addressing Him as "O my friend, O Kṛṣṇa, O Yādava," etc., without acknowledging His opulence. But Kṛṣṇa is so kind and merciful that in spite of such opulence He played with Arjuna as a friend. Such is the transcendental loving reciprocation between the devotee and the Lord. The relationship between the living entity and Kṛṣṇa is fixed eternally; it cannot be forgotten, as we can see from the behavior of Arjuna. Although Arjuna has seen the opulence in the universal form, he could not forget his friendly relationship with Kṛṣṇa.
What this verse teaches
Apologies – for offenses committed in friendly relationship.
- Section
- Arjuna’s prayers
- Gita for Life
- Family and relationships
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.