Gita Satsangh Chapter 11 Verses 41 to 42

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Gita Satsangh Chapter 11 Verses 41 to 42

(Verse Translation by Swami Gambirananda, Gita Bhasya and commentary

by Swami Chinmayanandaji)

 

Sakheti matwaa prasabham yaduktam He krishna he yaadava he sakheti;

Ajaanataa mahimaanam tavedam Mayaa pramaadaat pranayena vaapi. Verse

41

 

41. Without knowing this greatness of Yours, whatever was said by me

(to You) rashly, through inadvertence or even out of intimacy,

thinking (You to be) a friend, addressing (You) as 'O krsna,' 'O

Yadava,' 'O friend,' etc.-.

 

Like a fool, ajanata, without knowing-. Not knowing what? In answer

he says: idam, this

mahimanam, greatness-the Cosmic form

tava, of Yours, of God

yat, whatever

uktam, was said

maya, by me (to You)

prasabham, rashly, slightingly

pramadat, through inadvertence, being in a distracted state of mind

va api, or even

pranayena, out of intimacy-itimacy is the familiarity arising out of

love

whatever I have said because of that reason

erroneously matva, thinking (You)

sakha iti, to be a friend, of the same age

iti, addressing You as, 'O Krsna,' 'O Yadava,' 'O friend,'-.

 

In the clause, 'tava idam mahimanam, ajanata, without knowing this

greatness of Yours,' idam (this) (in the neutor gender) is connected

with mahimanam (greatness) (in masculine gender) by a change of

gender. If the reading be tava imam, then both the words would be in

the same gender.

 

Yachchaavahaasaartham asatkrito'si Vihaarashayyaasanabhojaneshu;

Eko'thavaapyachyuta tatsamaksham Tatkshaamaye twaamaham aprameyam.

Verse 42

 

42. And that You have been discourteously treated out of fun-while

walking, while on a bed, while on a seat, while eating, in privacy,

or, O Acyuta, even in public, for that I beg pardon of You, the

incomprehensible One.

 

And, yat, that

asi, You have been

asatkrtah, discourteously treated, slighted

avahasa-artham, out of fun, with a veiw to mocking;-where?-in these,

Acyuta, viz vihara-sayya-asana-bhojanesu, while walking [Walking,

i.e. sports or exercise], while on a bed, while on a seat, and while

eating;-that You have been insulted ekah, in privacy, in the absence

of others

adhava, or

that You have been insulted api, even

tat-samaksam, in public, in the very presence of others-(-tat being

used as an adverb)

tat, for that, for all those offences

O Acyuta, aham, I

ksamaye, beg pardon

tvam, of You

aprameyam, the incomprehensible One, who are beyond the means of

knowledge.

 

Commentary for both the above two verses:

Here are two beautiful stanzas that bring to the forefront with

dramatic precision, the exact type of emotions that will naturally be

generated in any ordinary man, when he suddenly realizes the Glory of

the Divine. Till now, Arjuna had thought Lord Krishna to be nothing

more than an intelligent cowherd boy, whom he had graciously

patronized so long with his royal friendship. And with the

realization and recognition of Krishna the Infinite, the mortal in

Arjuna prostrates in all loyalty and adoration and pleads for His

Divine mercy and forgiveness.

 

There is a very intimate personal touch in these two stanzas wherein

the philosophical discussions are tempered with the emotional touch

of deep intimacy. The very effect of the Geeta is to bring the

sonorous truths of the Vedas and the Upanishads to the happy tune of

the work-a-day world. Great and thought-provoking Vedantic truths

have been suddenly brought down to the easy familiarity of a drawing-

room-chat by such frequent psychological touches given by Vyasa's

masterly pen. As an intimate friend, Arjuna must have, in rashness,

not knowing Krishna's real Divine Nature, called Him familiarly by

His pet names.

[Guest guest]

Swami Dayananda Saraswati's Commentary (41 and 42):

 

Thinking of you as my friend what was said rashly by me, " O Krishna,

OYadava. O friend, " ignorant of this glory of yours, out of

carelessness or out of friendship too;

 

" Thinking of you as my friend sakha iti matva, I called you, Krishna,

Yadava, friend. " So many times he might have put his hand on his

shoulder and casually addressed Krishna. Imagine that your friend

with whom you have been so intimate suddenly assumes the form of the

whole cosmos. How would you feel? Arjuna feels that he had spoken to

Krishna rashly, prasabham. Sankara says mistakenly, viparlta-

bvddhya. Not knowing who he was, he spoke to him as a shepherd, " Hey

Yadava, " and addressed him simply as " Krishna " or " friend, sakha. "

This was said " by me who is ignorant, may a ajanata, of this glory of

yours, tava idam mahimanam. " Though idam is neuter, it is to be taken

with mahimanam which is masculine. Therefore Safikara says, tava imam

mahimanam. Not knowing his glory, naturally Arjuna spoke this way out

of inadvertance, pramadat, and also just out of friendship, pranayena

va api. In the freedom of friendship, he has so often addressed

him, 'he Krishna he yadava sakha.' In the next line he asks for

pardon.

 

Further, out of jest you were slighted while walking, lying down,

silting and eating, alone or even, Krishna, that (done) in public.

For (all) that may I ask pardon of you who cannot be known. Avahasah

is ridiculing someone in jest. Teasing Krishna in all sorts of

situations, making him a laughing stock purely out of fun, Arjuna now

realizes, " You are slighted, asatkrtah as/. " Satkrtah means well-

received, so asatkrtah means he has been ill-treated. When did this

happen? On all sorts of occasions, while walking, lying down,

sitting and eating, vihaca-£ayya-asana-bhojanesu.

 

In their conversations while wandering about to different places, or

while exercising, Arjuna realizes he has ill-treated Krishna in jest.

Then sometimes lying down to rest, perhaps when they were in the

forest together, he might have slighted him in conversation. Then

again while sitting down or eating. On ail these occasions, Arjuna

feels, " You have been ill-treated by me. " And this has been done

not only when they were alone, ekah, but even in the presence of

others, samaksam. For all that, Arjuna says, " I ask you for

forgiveness, aham ksamaye tvam. " Here he gives an adjective to tvam,

the one who cannot be known, aprameyam. The idea is, " Because you are

not available for any pramana, you can't blame me. I seek pardon of

you because you are -not available for any means of knowledge like

perception, inference and so on. I was not equipped to know you so I

had ill-treated you in my ignorance. Now I know "

[Guest guest]

Namaste:

 

Vedavyasa through these two verses provides us a subtle advice – Be

careful in the choice of your words while communicating with your

friends and relatives. Our elders were very careful in their choice

of the words and have avoided using disrespectful words. In the

modern situation, we have to be careful while typing our message

through emails! Once the arrow (email) gets released from the bow

(computer), we can't be taken back!! In life we have been in similar

situations many times. Arjuna was in a similar situation and

Vedavyasa beautifully describes his human feelings through these two

verses.

 

Though not directly related to these two verses, the dharma to be

observed for our routine communication is provided by the following

simple rule(s):

 

Sathyam Bruyath (speak the Truth)

Priyam Bruyath (speak sweetly and courteously)

Na Bruyath Sathyamapriyam (never utter the truth unpleasantly)

 

I also find the eternal law as outlined by Thiruvalluvar a great

Tamil Poet in Thirukkural (a collection of 1330 short poems on human

morality and ethics) quite appropriate. Valluvar describes the law

through ten short verses and one of the key verse is the following:

 

" Iniya ulavaka innatha kooral

kani iruppa kai kavarthandatru " (Tamil verse # 100)

 

Tranlation: To say disagreeable things when agreeable are at hand is

like eating unripe fruit when ripe fruit is readily available.

 

This verse provides a simple but a very practical solution for our

day to day communication.

Website for Thirukkural Main Page (English and Tamil versions are

available)

http://thirukural.tamilpower.com/thirukural.htm

 

One of the Vedic tradition that is observed at the end of Satsangh,

prayers or rituals is the recitation of Kshama Prarthana as follows:

 

Kayena Vacha Manasendriyairva

Budhyat Manava, Prakrute Svabhavat

Karomi Yadyat Sakalam Parasmai

Narayanayeti Samarpayami

 

Whatever I perform with my body, speech, mind, senses, intellect, or

my inner self either intentionally or unintentionally, I dedicate it

all to that Supreme Bhagawan Narayana.

 

In verses 42 and 43Arjuna expresses his regret as a Ksham Prarthana

to Lord Krishna. Although there was no comparison between him and

Sri Krishna, who was none other than the Parabrahman, he went on

foolishly regarding Him as an ordinary friend. Instead of using terms

of respect for Him, he continued to address Him without undue

respect. He is regretting for this. The word `Acyuta' stands for one

who never falls from his glory and exalted state of being. Addressing

the Lord by this name Arjuna indicates that, even though he committed

a great offense by insulting Him through his unseemly behavior, such

impropriety of behavior on his part could not really harm Him in any

way. Nothing in the world could shake His position and nobody could

ever bring dishonor to Him; for He is always `Acyuta, or unshaken.

 

The demonstrative pronoun " Tat " sums up all the offenses of the kind

mentioned in verses 41 and 42. By speaking of the Lord as

`Aprameyam,' Arjuna indicates the inconceivable nature of His form

and glory. In fact, no one can apprehend them fully. What little

knowledge about Him is possessed by anyone is wholly attributable to

His grace. It was due to His supreme grace that Arjuna, who had been

ignorant of His greatness so long and consequently behaved

disrespectfully towards Him, had come to realize His glory to a

certain extent. Even then it could not be asserted that He had known

it fully. Far from knowing it fully he had not yet apprehended even

that much of His glory which the divine grace sought to bring home to

him. But what little he had understood had fully convinced him that

He was God almighty Himself. He had now come to realize that the way

in which he had behaved with the Lord treating Him as his equal, was

unseemly on his part, and he humbly sought His pardon for all his

past misbehavior.

 

With my warmest regards,

 

Ram Chandran

[Guest guest]

Dear Shri. Ramchandranji:

What you have stated here is eternal truth. It is applicable for all

times. In my hurry I (mis)read the sentence, " Once the arrow (e mail)

gets released from the bow(computer) we can't be taken back " as we

can't be taken aback! I relished the irony!

 

Regards.

Jan Nagraj

 

 

advaitin , " Ram Chandran " <ramvchandran

wrote:

>

> Namaste:

>

> Vedavyasa through these two verses provides us a subtle advice – Be

> careful in the choice of your words while communicating with your

> friends and relatives.

[Guest guest]

advaitin , " Ram Chandran " <ramvchandran

wrote:

 

>

> Though not directly related to these two verses, the dharma to be

> observed for our routine communication is provided by the following

> simple rule(s):

>

> Sathyam Bruyath (speak the Truth)

> Priyam Bruyath (speak sweetly and courteously)

> Na Bruyath Sathyamapriyam (never utter the truth unpleasantly)

>

 

Namaste.

 

Ram Chandran-ji has quoted above only half the famous verse.

Including the second half would make it read as follows:

 

Satyam brUyAt priyaM brUyAt na brUyAt satyam apriyaM /

priyaM ca nAnRtaM brUyAt esha dharmaH sanAtanaH //

 

Meaning: One should speak truthfully what is pleasant. Truth not

pleasant should not be spoken. Also pleasant but not true should not

be spoken. This is the age-old Dharma.

 

Whenever this shloka is quoted by expositors, they also tell a story

to bring home the meaning of this shloka.

 

Hunters, probably royal messengers, were chasing a deer to kill it.

They lost the chase. On their way they confronted a Rishi doing his

penance. He was quite awake and he actually saw the deer passing by

and did know which way it went. But when the terrific lookking

hunters asked him about the deer and threatened to kill him if he did

not speak the truth, he was confronted with a dilemma -- whether to

tell them about the deer's movement, in which case they were sure to

find it and kill it, or to divert them another way so that the deer

could be saved or to tell them that he did not see the deer, in which

case he would have uttered a lie. Confronted with this dilemma of

Dharma, he kept on repeating the words

 

" What sees cannot speak; what speaks cannot see "

 

Even when the hunters prodded him on with further questions to

understand this 'gibberish' -- which is what they thought of this

reply, he kept on repeating the same words. They finally went away!

 

PraNAms to all advaitins.

profvk.

[Guest guest]

praNams Shri Ram Chandranji (and Satsanghis),

 

Here are a couple of jewels from the commentary by

Shri Jnaneshwar on these verses.

 

advaitin , " Ram Chandran " <ramvchandran wrote:

> Sakheti matwaa prasabham yaduktam He krishna he yaadava he sakheti;

> Ajaanataa mahimaanam tavedam Mayaa pramaadaat pranayena vaapi. Verse

> 41

>

> 41. Without knowing this greatness of Yours, whatever was said by me

> (to You) rashly, through inadvertence or even out of intimacy,

> thinking (You to be) a friend, addressing (You) as 'O krsna,' 'O

> Yadava,' 'O friend,' etc.-.

 

....

 

531. How great was my impropriety! It was as if I had used

nectar to cleanse the ground, or given away the boon giving

cow in exchange for a bull.

 

532. as if, having found a touchstone, I had broken it up

unwittingly for use in building, or cut down the tree of

desire to make a hedge for a field;

 

533. or, having found a mine of desire-jewels, had used

them to drive away unruly cattle, not recognizing them

[the jewels]. So even while Thou were so near we have

rejected Thee as a friend.

....

 

535. O Thou generous one, we sent Thee as a mediator

to the Kauravas, using Thee, the living Lord, as a

common go-between.

 

536. Fool that I am, how could I not recognize Thee,

the bliss of the highest attainment of yogis? and yet

before Thy face I have treated Thee with discourtesy.

 

> Yachchaavahaasaartham asatkrito'si Vihaarashayyaasanabhojaneshu;

> Eko'thavaapyachyuta tatsamaksham Tatkshaamaye twaamaham aprameyam.

> Verse 42

>

> 42. And that You have been discourteously treated out of fun-while

> walking, while on a bed, while on a seat, while eating, in privacy,

> or, O Acyuta, even in public, for that I beg pardon of You, the

> incomprehensible One.

 

....

553. O Thou who art immeasurable, grant pardon for all my

faults to me who have sought refuge in Thee.

....

 

 

[Here is an online link to a translation of the commentary of

chapter 11

http://www.bvbpune.org/chap11.html]

 

praNams to all Advaitins,

Ramakrishna

[Guest guest]

Namaste Sri Ramakrishnaji:

 

Thanks for sharing jewells from Sri Jnaeshwar on these verses. Our

others will follow you and share the treasures from other commentators.

Only such participating will enance our understanding of Bhagavad Gita

and clear our doubts.

 

Harih Om!

 

Ram Chandran

 

advaitin , " Ramakrishna Upadrasta " <ramakrsn

wrote:

>

>

> Here are a couple of jewels from the commentary by

> Shri Jnaneshwar on these verses.

>