सखेति मत्वा प्रसभं यदुक्तं हे कृष्ण हे यादव हे सखेति। अजानता महिमानं तवेदं मया प्रमादात्प्रणयेन वापि ॥
sakheti matvā prasabhaṃ yaduktaṃ he kṛṣṇa he yādava he sakheti| ajānatā mahimānaṃ tavedaṃ mayā pramādātpraṇayena vāpi ||
I called You 'Hey Kṛṣṇa! Hey Friend!' not knowing Your greatness — from carelessness or love — please forgive!
Word by word (3)
- sakheti matvā prasabhaṃ yad uktam / he kṛṣṇa he yādava he sakheti
- — Having thought of You as a friend, whatever was said rashly — 'Hey Kṛṣṇa! Hey Yādava! Hey Friend!' · Sakhā iti matvā = having thought 'this one is a friend' (sakhā = friend; iti = thus; matvā = having thought/considered; iti matvā = thinking thus). Prasabham = rashly, presumptuously, forcibly (pra + √sah = to overcome = presumptuously; the word means with undue forwardness/importunacy). Yad uktam = whatever was said. He Kṛṣṇa = O Kṛṣṇa! (the 'he' particle = O! — casual address). He Yādava = O Yādava! (Yādava = descendant of Yadu, a clan name — NOT a divine epithet). He Sakhe = O Friend! (vocative of sakhā = friend). These three forms of address are deeply informal: a personal name (Kṛṣṇa), a clan name (Yādava), and a relational term (Friend). None of them is a divine title. Compare with the epithets of V36-V40 (Hṛṣīkeśa, deveśa, jagan-nivāsa, ādideva, etc.) — V41's confession is: I used the language of human friendship with the Infinite.
- ajānatā mahimānam tavedaṃ
- — not knowing this greatness of Yours · Ajānatā = not knowing (instrumental of ajānat = present participle of a + √jñā = not-knowing; instrumental = 'by me who was not-knowing'). Mahimānam = greatness, majesty, glory (accusative of mahiman = greatness; same root as mahan = great). Tava idam = of You, this = 'this greatness of Yours.' The structure: I was the not-knowing agent; this greatness was what I didn't know. The confession's internal logic: the casual address was not insolent — it was ajñāna (ignorance). Arjuna was not being deliberately disrespectful; he genuinely didn't know the cosmic dimension behind his charioteer-friend. This is the Gita's implicit teaching: the same divine is present in every 'friend' — we just don't see it. Arjuna's confession is every human being's confession: we mistake the infinite for the familiar.
- mayā pramādāt praṇayena vāpi
- — by me — from carelessness or even from affection · Mayā = by me (instrumental). Pramādāt = from carelessness, heedlessness (ablative of pramāda = negligence, forgetfulness, intoxication — pra + māda = excess of drunkenness/forgetfulness; pramāda = the state of being so occupied with something that you forget what matters). Praṇayena = from/with affection, love (instrumental of praṇaya = love, affection, trust; particularly the intimate affectionate love of close friendship). Vā api = or even (vā = or; api = even — the disjunction: either negligence OR affection was the cause). This is philosophically significant: two different causes are named as equally possible for the casual address. The or is important: Arjuna doesn't know which caused it — negligence (forgetting who Krishna truly is) OR deep affection (love so intimate it transcends formality). Both are acknowledged. The bhakti tradition picks up praṇayena as the more elevated cause.
After the cosmic revelation, Arjuna remembers how he used to talk to Krishna casually — calling him by his personal name, his clan name, and just 'Friend.' He confesses he didn't know Krishna's true greatness and asks forgiveness — whether it came from carelessness or from the intimacy of deep affection.
A modern analogy
Like a child who grew up next door to a great teacher, calling them by first name, joking around, never bowing — and then discovering their true stature. The child didn't mean disrespect; they just saw the person, not the magnitude behind them.
Sit with this: Arjuna's casual address (Hey Kṛṣṇa! Hey Friend!) wasn't disrespectful — it came from genuine intimacy. Is there something sacred in your life that you've treated casually because you're close to it? What happens when you recognize its full magnitude?
V41's three casual forms of address — Kṛṣṇa (personal name), Yādava (clan name), Sakhe (friend) — stand in deliberate contrast with the divine epithets of V36-V40 (Hṛṣīkeśa, deveśa, ādideva, etc.). The contrast is the confession: Arjuna was using the language appropriate to the human dimension while the divine dimension was simultaneously present. The ajānatā (not-knowing) is the key: this was not sacrilege but avidyā (spiritual not-knowing) — the most fundamental ignorance in Advaita: seeing the manifest without seeing the Absolute within it. Arjuna seeing Krishna-the-friend without seeing Krishna-the-Infinite is the same structural error as seeing the pot without seeing the clay, or seeing the wave without seeing the ocean.
Bhakti lens
The bhakti tradition (particularly the Gauḍīya school) elevates V41's praṇayena (from affection) as the highest explanation for Arjuna's casual address. Praṇaya-bhakti = the devotion of the intimate friend — the love that is so close it transcends formality. In the five rasas (devotional moods) of bhakti — śānta (peaceful), dāsya (servant), sakhya (friendship), vātsalya (parental), mādhurya (conjugal) — sakhya-bhakti (friendly devotion) is what Arjuna embodies. The casual 'Hey Kṛṣṇa!' was sakhya-rasa expressed. V41's confession does not negate this — it deepens it: now Arjuna adds reverent-awe (aishvarya) to his friendly love (mādhava).
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
[MISSING in SW — combined with V42 context] Arjuna confesses casual address: 'Hey Krishna! Hey Yadava! Hey Friend!' — not knowing Your greatness, from carelessness or affection. [4]
Ah! if in anger now Thou shouldst remember I did think Thee Friend, Speaking with easy speech, As men use each to each; Did call Thee 'Krishna,' 'Prince,' nor comprehend Thy hidden majesty, The might, the awe of Thee; Did, in my heedlessness, or in my love... [7]
[V41-42 combined in Telang] Whatever I said to you presumptuously, calling you O Krishna! O Yadava! O friend! through friendship, or in thoughtlessness, not knowing this greatness of yours... [9]
Whatever I may have said presumptuously, calling Thee, O Krishna, O Yadava, O Friend — not knowing the greatness of Thee, from negligence or from affection... [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Overwhelmed with wonder, hair standing on end, Arjuna bowed and spoke to the God with joined palms.
Arise and win glory! These warriors are already slain by Me — be merely the instrument, O Savyasācin!
Sanjaya describes what the blind king cannot see: Arjuna weeping, overwhelmed with compassion.
Knowing Me as the enjoyer of all sacrifice and austerity, Great Lord of all worlds, Friend of all beings — peace comes.
Lift the self by the Self; let not the self drown itself — you alone are your own friend and your own foe.
Your own mind is your best friend when mastered; your worst enemy when not.