तस्मात्प्रणम्य प्रणिधाय कायं प्रसादये त्वामहमीशमीड्यम्। पितेव पुत्रस्य सखेव सख्युः प्रियः प्रियायार्हसि देव सोढुम् ॥
tasmātpraṇamya praṇidhāya kāyaṃ prasādaye tvāmahamīśamīḍyam| piteva putrasya sakheva sakhyuḥ priyaḥ priyāyārhasi deva soḍhum ||
Prostrating my body, I seek Your grace — as father forgives son, friend friend, beloved beloved — O Lord, forgive!
Word by word (3)
- tasmāt praṇamya praṇidhāya kāyam / prasādaye tvām aham īśam īḍyam
- — Therefore, having prostrated — having placed the body down — I propitiate You, O Adorable Lord! · Tasmāt = therefore (ablative = from that reason; connecting to V43's recognition of Krishna's supreme greatness). Praṇamya = having bowed (gerund of pra + √nam = to bow down; praṇāma = full prostration). Praṇidhāya kāyam = having placed the body down (pra + ni + √dhā = to place before; praṇidhāya = having placed/prostrated; kāyam = the body — the full physical body is placed prostrate). Two gerunds in sequence: bow + place-body-down = complete physical prostration, not just a nod. Prasādaye = I propitiate, I request grace of (from √prasad = to make gracious/clear; prasādaye = I cause to be gracious = I seek grace from). Īśam = O Lord! Īḍyam = O Worthy of praise! (gerundive of √īḍ = to praise; īḍya = to-be-praised). The full-body prostration (praṇamya + praṇidhāya kāyam) is the physical counterpart to Arjuna's verbal confession of V41-V43.
- piteva putrasya sakheva sakhyuḥ / priyaḥ priyāyārhasi deva soḍhum
- — As a father (forgives) a son, as a friend (forgives) a friend, as a beloved (forgives) a beloved — O God, please bear (with me)! · Pitā iva = like a father (simile). Putrasya = of/for a son (genitive). Sakhā iva = like a friend. Sakhyuḥ = of a friend (genitive). Priyaḥ = a beloved one. Priyāyāḥ = of a beloved (genitive feminine). Arhasi = You ought to / please do (from √arh = to be worthy/fitting for; arhasi = you are worthy to = please deign to). Soḍhum = to bear, to forgive (infinitive of √sah = to bear, endure). Three triadic similes: (1) father-son = unconditional parental love that forgives regardless; (2) friend-friend = reciprocal, equal love that forgives in intimacy; (3) beloved-beloved = romantic love that forgives in desire and closeness. These three cover the full spectrum of human intimate relationship. In every human relationship-type, forgiveness flows from love. Arjuna invokes all three to reach the divine love that must surely also forgive.
- prasādaye / arhasi soḍhum
- — I seek grace / You ought to bear/forgive · The structural relationship between prasādaye (I seek grace from You) and arhasi soḍhum (You ought to bear/forgive) creates a gentle pressure: the request is framed not just as petition (please forgive me) but as an appeal to what is appropriate (You are the kind of being who forgives — it befits You). Arhasi soḍhum = 'You are worthy of bearing this' = 'it is in accordance with Your nature to forgive.' The devotee's prayer doesn't beg as a pauper — it invokes the divine's own loving nature as the reason the forgiveness will come. This is the bhakta's bold confidence: I know You will forgive because that is who You are.
Arjuna physically prostrates himself and asks for forgiveness using three beautiful human analogies: as a father naturally forgives his child, as a friend forgives a friend, as lovers forgive each other — in that same spirit of intimate love, please forgive me.
A modern analogy
Like kneeling before someone and saying: 'I know you love me the way a parent loves a child, the way a best friend loves you, the way a devoted partner loves — and because I know that love, I know you'll forgive me.' The appeal uses the beloved's own nature as the argument.
Sit with this: Arjuna appeals to three types of forgiving love: parental (unconditional), friendly (reciprocal), romantic (devoted). Which of these feels most natural to you in your relationship with the Divine? And which would be hardest to accept — being forgiven by God as a parent forgives a child, with no conditions at all?
V44's triple simile (father-son / friend-friend / beloved-beloved) maps the Gita's implicit ontology of love onto the petition for forgiveness. Each simile corresponds to a bhakti rasa: pitā-putra = vātsalya (parental love); sakhā-sakhya = sakhya (friendly love); priya-priyā = mādhurya (conjugal/devoted love). That all three are invoked simultaneously = Arjuna's recognition that his relationship with Krishna contains ALL three simultaneously. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa's devotional taxonomy holds these as three of the five highest rasas. V44's petition becomes the template for the entire bhakti tradition's understanding of prayer: the devotee appeals to the divine's own loving nature as both the basis and the guarantee of the petition.
Bhakti lens
V44 is one of the Gita's most concentrated bhakti verses. The threefold simile (father-son + friend-friend + beloved-beloved) = the three primary intimate bhakti relationships mapped onto a single petition. The verse shows bhakti's most mature expression: the devotee doesn't approach the divine as a distant judge but as the most intimate being imaginable — the one who loves as completely as the most loving parent, the most devoted friend, the most cherishing lover. Pray to THIS being: forgiveness is certain because it is the nature of such love.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
[V44 MISSING in SH indexed JSON] [1]
So prostrating my body in adoration, I crave Thy forgiveness, Lord adorable! As a father forgiveth his son, friend a dear friend, a beloved one his love, even so shouldst Thou forgive me, O Deva. [4]
Therefore, with body bent And reverent intent, I praise, and serve, and seek Thee, asking grace. As father to a son, As friend to friend, as one Who loveth to his lover, turn Thy face In gentleness on me! [7]
O god! to pardon (my guilt) as a father (that of his) son, a friend (that of his) friend, or a husband (that of his) beloved. [9]
[included in combined prose passage] As a father forgives his son, or a friend his friend, or a loved one forgives the beloved — so shouldst thou forgive me, O Deva. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
I called You 'Hey Kṛṣṇa! Hey Friend!' not knowing Your greatness — from carelessness or love — please forgive!
Duryodhana catalogues the Pandava heroes — naming his fears, one by one.
Not hating, friendly, compassionate, without 'mine' or 'I', equal in pain and joy, forgiving — the dear devotee!
I give you this ancient yoga today because you are My devotee and friend — this is the supreme secret.
I am the Goal, Lord, Witness, Abode, Refuge, Friend — and the Origin, Dissolution, Seed imperishable.
Equal in honor and disgrace, equal to friend and foe, abandoning all undertakings — he has gone beyond guṇas.