Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 11, Verse 41: Krishna to Arjuna — Viśvarūpa-Darśana-Yoga

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  Treating You as a mere equal in age (samāna-vayaska), my mind clouded by inverted cognition (viparīta-buddhi), I addressed You with presumptuous familiarity — 'O Kṛṣṇa, O Yādava, O friend' — utterly ignorant (ajānata) of this majesty (mahimā), this universal form (viśvarūpa) that is the sovereignty of Īśvara. Whether through mental distraction (pramāda, wandering of citta) or through the confidence born of affection (prāṇaya, the ease that intimacy breeds), the words were spoken from the same root error: the false superimposition of ordinary human category onto the unchanging substratum of Brahman.

  divergence: Śaṅkara: 'sakhā samānavayāḥ iti matvā viparītabuddhyā ... mahimānaṃ māhātmyaṃ tava idam īśvarasya viśvarūpam ... pramādāt vikṣiptacittatayā; praṇayena viśrambhaḥ'

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  Your mahimā — infinite power (ananta-vīrya), measureless valour (amita-vikrama), inner-self-of-all (sarvāntarātmatva), and creatorship (sraṣṭṛtva) — this entire constellation of divine qualities I failed to perceive, and so, mistaking You for a mere companion (vayasya) through long familiarity (cira-paricaya), I called out 'O Kṛṣṇa, O Yādava, O friend' with disrespect (vinayāpeta). In play, on the bed, at table, in private and in public, You who deserve only reverential service (satkāra) were dishonoured by me; all of that, O immeasurable one (aprameyam), I now beg You to forgive.

  divergence: Rāmānuja: 'anantavīryatvāmitavikramatvasarvāntarātmatvasraṣṭṛtvādiko yo mahimā ... ciraparicayena vā sakhā iti matvā ... satkārārhaḥ tvam asatkṛtaḥ asi ... tatsarvaṃ tvām aprameyam ahaṃ kṣāmaye'

• Madhvadvaita

  Arjuna confesses: addressing the Lord as *sakhā* (friend) — calling out *he kṛṣṇa*, *he yādava*, *he sakhe* — was spoken *prasabham* (with presumptuous familiarity), driven by *pramāda* (heedlessness) or *praṇaya* (affectionate ease), and in *ajānatā* (ignorance) of *tava mahimā* (Your greatness). In *dvaita* reading, this confession registers the *pañca-bheda* (the five-fold real distinction) at its sharpest: the *paratantra* *jīva*, however intimate with the Lord in devotional life, remains categorically other than the *svatantra* Hari. *Praṇaya* does not dissolve *bheda*; it presupposes it — one can presume upon a friend only where two genuinely distinct persons stand. The very need for *kṣamā* (forgiveness) confirms what the vision has forced Arjuna to see: *bhakti* as ontological subordination is not a pious overlay but the constitutive fact of the *jīva*'s being. Casual address was possible precisely because *taratamya* (the graded hierarchy of being) had been momentarily veiled; the Viśvarūpa tore that veil away.

  divergence: No Madhva or Jayatīrtha bhāṣya extant for 11.41; rendering voiced from dvaita siddhānta primitives — pañca-bheda, paratantra jīva, taratamya — applied directly to the mūla.

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  Having beheld that supreme, incomparable majesty (alaukika-māhātmya-śrī) — the akṣara-aiśvarya and all transcendent qualities — Arjuna now asks forgiveness: whatever I addressed with 'O Yādava, O friend,' not knowing (ajānata) this extraordinary glory (atilaukika-mahimā) of Yours, that I beg You to pardon. In the Puṣṭi-mārga reading, this moment is itself a gift of Kṛṣṇa's grace (prasāda) — the bewilderment, the wrong address, and the kṣamāpana are all folds within His own līlā, and Arjuna's contrition deepens his eligibility (adhikāra) for the sweetness (mādhurya) that will be restored when Kṛṣṇa resumes the gentle sakhā form.

  divergence: Vallabha: 'akṣaraiśvaryādiguna-mahimānaṃ paramaṃ taṃ dṛṣṭvā kṣamāpayati ... tava mahimānaṃ alaukikamāhātmyaśriyaṃ atiśayenājānatā mayā yaduktaṃ ... tatkṣāmaye tvām'

• Śrīdharabhakti

  Śrīdhara introduces this as a pair of verses (dvābhyām) in which Arjuna seeks to propitiate the Lord (bhagavantaṃ kṣamāpayati): treating You as an ordinary person (prākṛtaḥ sakhā iti matvā), I addressed You with brazen disregard (prasabham, haṭhena, tiraskāreṇa), and the cause of that transgression was twofold — either inattention (pramāda) or affectionate ease (prāṇaya, sneha). The words 'O Kṛṣṇa, O Yādava, O friend' — the sandhi here is āṛṣa (Vedic licence) — were addressed without knowledge of this universal form (viśvarūpa) that constitutes Your mahimā; for that, I seek Your pardon.

  divergence: Śrīdhara: 'tvāṃ prākṛtaḥ sakheti matvā prasabhaṃ haṭhena tiraskāreṇa yaduktaṃ ... tava mahimānam idaṃ ca viśvarūpam ajānatā mayā pramādāt praṇayena snehena api vā'

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  Because I did not know Your majesty (tvān-māhātmya-aparijñāna), I offended ceaselessly; now, prostrating before You who are supremely compassionate (paramakāruṇika), I cause You to grant forgiveness of those offences (aparādha-kṣamā). Believing You my equal (samānavaya), I spoke with the pride of self-aggrandizement (svotkarṣa-khyāpana-rūpeṇa-abhibhavena) — 'O Kṛṣṇa, O Yādava, O friend' — ignorant of this mahimā, this excess of sovereignty (aiśvarya-atiśaya), this universal-form-natured glory (viśvarūpātmaka-mahimā). Madhusūdana holds both poles: the non-dual ground (advaita) means Arjuna's ignorance is avidyā superimposing limitation onto the limitless, while the bhakti register means that even this contrition is an act of devotion that draws the devotee nearer to Kṛṣṇa.

  divergence: Madhusūdana: 'tvān-māhātmyāparijñānādaparādhānajasramaākārṣaṃ ... paramakāruṇikaṃ tvāṃ praṇamyāparādhakṣamāṃ kārayāmīti ... svotkarṣakhyāpanarūpeṇābhibhavena yaduktaṃ ... aiśvaryātiśayam ajānatā'