Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11, Verse 44

Chapter 11 – Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga · Speaker: Arjuna

Sanskrit verse

तस्मात्प्रणम्य प्रणिधाय कायं
प्रसादये त्वामहमीशमीड्यम् ।
पितेव पुत्रस्य सखेव सख्युः
प्रियः प्रियायार्हसि देव सोढुम् ॥

Transliteration

tasmātpraṇamya praṇidhāya kāyaṃ prasādaye tvāmahamīśamīḍyam .
piteva putrasya sakheva sakhyuḥ priyaḥ priyāyārhasi deva soḍhum ॥

Meaning

Therefore, bowing down and laying my body at Your feet, I seek Your grace, O adorable Lord. As a father bears with his son, a friend with his friend, a lover with his beloved, so should You, O God, bear with me.

Word meanings

तस्मात् – therefore
प्रणम्य – bowing down
प्रणिधाय – laying down, prostrating
कायम् – the body
प्रसादये – I seek to propitiate, ask grace
त्वाम् – You
अहम् – I
ईशम् – the Lord
ईड्यम् – worthy of praise
पिता इव – as a father
पुत्रस्य – of a son
सखा इव – as a friend
सख्युः – of a friend
प्रियः – a lover
प्रियायाः – of the beloved
अर्हसि – You ought, You are fit
देव – O God
सोढुम् – to bear with, to forgive

Anvaya (word order)

तस्मात् अहम् कायम् प्रणिधाय प्रणम्य ईड्यम् ईशम् त्वाम् प्रसादये । देव, पुत्रस्य पिता इव, सख्युः सखा इव, प्रियायाः प्रियः (इव, मम अपराधम्) सोढुम् अर्हसि ।

Explanation

Tasmat, ‘therefore’: because You are such a father, such an object of worship, such a teacher, I now bow not with words alone but with my whole body. Pranidhaya kayam means laying the body flat on the ground like a staff — the full prostration in which the entire weight of the ego is placed at the Lord’s feet. Prasadaye: I seek to win Your favour, I beg for Your grace.

The second half offers three images, each a different register of relationship between God and devotee. A father bears with his son’s faults, out of protective tenderness. A friend overlooks a friend’s lapses, out of equality and trust. A lover accepts even the sulks and sharp words of the beloved, out of complete intimacy. Arjuna seems to say: whatever bond You have with me, forgive me according to that bond.

Grammatically, priyāyārhasi stands for priyāyāḥ arhasi; traditional commentators accept the irregular sandhi as an archaic usage suited to the metre. Shankara reads the three images simply as models of forbearance. Ramanuja finds in them the Lord’s vatsalya, the love of a cow that licks clean its newborn calf without minding the dirt — so the Lord does not see the devotee’s faults at all.

Later devotional traditions developed these very moods into the classic relationships of servant, friend, parent and lover. In this verse Arjuna’s praise, fear and love meet in one act of complete surrender.

Context

After declaring the Lord’s unrivalled greatness in 11.43, Arjuna prostrates himself here and asks forgiveness. In 11.45, still shaken by fear, he will ask Krishna to show again His gentle, familiar form.

Life lesson

A true apology is made with one’s whole being, not with words only. Whatever relationship we feel with God — as father, friend or beloved — we may take refuge in Him with the confidence that relationship gives.

Key terms

Pranidhaya kayam: laying the body down, full prostration
Prasadaye: I seek Your grace and favour
Idya: worthy of praise
Sodhum: to bear with, to forgive