Chapter 11 Shlokas 43, 44

पितासि लोकस्य चराचरस्य त्वमस्य पूज्यश्च गुरुर्गरीयान्।

न त्वत्समोऽस्त्यभ्यधिक: कुतोऽन्यो लोकत्रयेऽप्यप्रतिमप्रभाव।।४३।।

तस्मात्प्रणम्य प्रणिधाय कायं प्रसादये त्वामहमीशमीड्यम्।

पितेव पुत्रस्य सखेव सख्यु: प्रिय: प्रियायार्हसि देव सोढुम्।।४४।।

O Lord! One with unparalleled influence! You are the Father of all the moving and inert objects of this world; You are the Perfect Guru, the supremely exalted One worthy of worship. There is none in these three worlds who is comparable to You. How can anyone be greater than You? Therefore, I prostrate my entire body at Your feet. Bowing low, I seek to propitiate You. O Lord! Just as a father tolerates his son’s errors, a friend his companion’s and a husband his wife’s, I pray that You, too, forgive my trespasses.

Chapter 11 Shlokas 43, 44

पितासि लोकस्य चराचरस्य त्वमस्य पूज्यश्च गुरुर्गरीयान्।

न त्वत्समोऽस्त्यभ्यधिक: कुतोऽन्यो लोकत्रयेऽप्यप्रतिमप्रभाव।।४३।।

तस्मात्प्रणम्य प्रणिधाय कायं प्रसादये त्वामहमीशमीड्यम्।

पितेव पुत्रस्य सखेव सख्यु: प्रिय: प्रियायार्हसि देव सोढुम्।।४४।।

Arjuna continues:

O Lord! One with unparalleled influence! You are the Father of all the moving and inert objects of this world; You are the Perfect Guru, the supremely exalted One worthy of worship. There is none in these three worlds who is comparable to You. How can anyone be greater than You? Therefore, I prostrate my entire body at Your feet. Bowing low, I seek to propitiate You. O Lord! Just as a father tolerates his son’s errors, a friend his companion’s and a husband his wife’s, I pray that You, too, forgive my trespasses.

Arjuna’s knowledge after his perception of the Universal Cosmic form of the Lord

Little one, eulogising the attributes of the Lord and seeking His forgiveness, Arjuna said:

“Thou art the Supreme Worshipful Exalted Guru;
Thou art the Supreme Truth Itself.
Thou art Adhyatam epitomised;
Thou art Knowledge Itself and the Supreme Essence.
Thou art the Lord of the Universe
And the Lord of the entire transient and intransient worlds.
Thou art also the Lord of the three worlds; yet You surpass even these.
Thou art unparalleled, unlike any other, and without comparison.
How can I limit the Limitless? For Thy form defies thought.

Thou art the untouched Supreme Guru and the embodiment of the Supreme.

Here You stand in human form though You are Unmanifest in reality.
This is Thy divine manifestation, yet Thou art unmanifest.
Thou art Adhyatam embodied and its unmanifest Core.”

Arjuna’s state after witnessing the Lord’s Cosmic form

“Head bowed, hands folded, I place myself at Your feet.
Pray accept me this day O Lord! This is all I ask of You.
Pray forgive my transgressions of the past.
Smile only this once, for Thou art the Compassionate One!
As a father forgives his son; as a friend forgives his friend
As a husband forgives his loved one, Lord! Forgive me!”

But listen Kamla, the Lord is Forgiveness Itself:

a) When did He ever take affront at anyone’s behaviour?

b) When does He ever show up another in a poor light?

c) When has He ever renounced His divine friendship?

d) He is ever silent towards His own needs.

e) Has He ever complained at the constant attacks and insults heaped on Him?

An individual’s conduct towards the Lord

The Lord has always pleaded with you. How many times have you entreated Him? You have rejected Him so often, has He ever rejected you? You have ill-treated Him thousands of times, yet whenever you are in need, you run to Him. Has He ever turned you away from His door?

The Lord’s inner state

1. He has always remained indifferent towards both honour and dishonour.

2. Forgiveness Itself, He never even let Arjuna become conscious of his constant transgressions and insulting conduct.

3. What must Such a One be like, who throughout His lifetime so effectively conceals His basic nature?

Kamla, why seek forgiveness from One who is Forgiveness Itself? To become like Him will be the greatest tribute one could offer. Share with the entire world, the love you have received from Him.

What should be our attitude towards the Lord’s Love?

It is essential to share the Lord’s love. If you truly love the Lord, love your associates and all others with the same affection, or else that same love will make you dry and unfeeling. If you love only the Lord, you have not understood the Lord’s basic and essential core.

Also consider, do you seek the Lord’s hand of blessing upon your head eternally or do you wish to be constantly begging Him for His favours?

You must in fact endeavour to have the Lord’s hand of blessing forever upon you. His essence must abide in the core of your heart. He must be your life’s witness and His deeds must flow through your body.

a) Then your life will be coloured in the Lord’s hues.

b) Your life will then conform to the practice of yagya, tapas and daan; your every deed will be an act of devotional offering to the Lord.

c) You will become the epitome of endurance and loving toleration of all that transpires.

d) Then you will become a lifelong giver.

Little one, if there is true remorse in your heart and you sincerely seek the Lord’s forgiveness for your transgressions, the above attitude will automatically follow. Such an attitude is the true swashtang pranaam, (the reverential and total obeisance of the body before the Lord). For with such an attitude your every limb will bow before the Lord and you will become subservient to Him. You will implicitly obey His every command and He will rule over every part of your body.

Arjuna’s plea for forgiveness

Look little one, Arjuna said to the Lord, “As a father forgives his son, You too, grant me forgiveness.”

1. Just as a father naturally tolerates and endures all the foolish transgressions and ignorance of his son and grants unconditional forgiveness, You too must endure all and grant me forgiveness!

2. Just as one friend endures the raillery of another friend and helps him to achieve his sought after goal despite any inequities or grievances, so also You must tolerate any misbehaviour on my part. Just as one friend endures all the rights and wrongs of his comrade with equanimity, so also I look to You to forgive me all my trespasses.

3. Just as a husband tolerates every type of behaviour from his wife and forgives her for any mistakes she may have made due to their intimate relationship, so also O Lord! I seek forgiveness from You for all my mistakes.

“Due to oversight or ignorance on my part, consciously or unconsciously, or due to our close relationship, I too may have taken undue privileges from you and thus slighted You; I seek Your divine forgiveness for all these transgressions.”

Little one, Arjuna is still taking undue advantage of the Lord’s compassion, His forgiveness and His mercy. He is more or less saying, “It behoves You to forgive me! It is but right that You endure all my trespasses.” However, the Lord has already given proof of His forgiveness even before this request of Arjuna. This statement of Arjuna is more in the nature of ‘Krito Smar, Kritang Smar’.

‘Krito Smar, Kritang Smar’ is a process whereby the aspirant perceives the Lord’s divine acts vis à vis his own inferior deeds in the presence of Om – the divine symbol of Truth Itself. (See Ish Upanishad shloka 17, for an elucidation of Krito Smar, Kritang Smar.)

Little one, all that you need to understand here, is that it is important to review all your past deeds, which you have constantly justified as correct and true, and judge them objectively. Were your actions correct? To know this, you must:

a) weigh yourself in relation to the laws of the Truth;

b) evaluate yourself in terms of the qualities enjoined in the Gita;

c) assess yourself and your merit against the extreme ordinariness of the Lord’s life.

You must assess yourself in accordance with the essential nature of divinity and its manifestation as elucidated in shloka 42 of this chapter.

You take pride in your intellect; compare it with the attributes of that Intellect which is stable and constantly established in equanimity.

If you are proud of your daily code of conduct and your deeds, weigh those deeds with the actions prescribed in the Gita and you will know how many mistakes you constantly make, knowingly or unknowingly.

Arjuna, too, was in a similar situation; he was deeply troubled on perceiving his own lacunae, and hence sought the Lord’s forgiveness.