Bhagavad-gita As It Is Chapter 11 Verses 41-42

Chapter 11: The Universal Form

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 11.41-42

sakheti matvā prasabhaḿ yad uktaḿ

he kṛṣṇa he yādava he sakheti

ajānatā mahimānaḿ tavedaḿ

mayā pramādāt praṇayena vāpi

yac cāvahāsārtham asat-kṛto 'si

vihāra-śayyāsana-bhojaneṣu

eko 'tha vāpy acyuta tat-samakṣaḿ

tat kṣāmaye tvām aham aprameyam

SYNONYMS

sakhā — friend; iti — thus; matvā — thinking; prasabham — presumptuously; yat — whatever; uktam — said; he kṛṣṇa — O Kṛṣṇa; he yādava — O Yādava; he sakhe — O my dear friend; iti — thus; ajānatā — without knowing; mahimānam — glories; tava — Your; idam — this; mayā — by me; pramādāt — out of foolishness; praṇayena — out of love; vā api — either; yat — whatever; ca — also; avahāsa-artham — for joking; asat-kṛtaḥ — dishonored; asi — You have been; vihāra — in relaxation; śayyā — in lying down; āsana — in sitting; bhojaneṣu — or while eating together; ekaḥ — alone; atha vā — or; api — also; acyuta — O infallible one; tat-samakṣam — among companions; tat — all those; kṣāmaye — ask forgiveness; tvām — from You; aham — I; aprameyam — immeasurable.

TRANSLATION

Thinking of You as my friend, I have rashly addressed You "O Kṛṣṇa," "O Yādava," "O my friend," not knowing Your glories. Please forgive whatever I may have done in madness or in love. I have dishonored You many times, jesting as we relaxed, lay on the same bed, or sat or ate together, sometimes alone and sometimes in front of many friends. O infallible one, please excuse me for all those 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 Kṛṣṇa 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 Kṛṣṇa explained it as his intimate friend. Arjuna did not know how many times he may have dishonored Kṛṣṇa by addressing Him "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 cannot forget his friendly relationship with Kṛṣṇa.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness