Arjuna
Devotee & WarriorThe great Pandava warrior and skilled archer. Overwhelmed by moral dilemma on the battlefield, he seeks guidance from Krishna, becoming the ideal disciple.
Speaking: Chapter 11, Verse 44
Verse 44
The Yoga of the Vision of the Cosmic Form
You are the Supreme Lord, to be worshiped by every living being. Thus I fall down to offer You my respects and ask Your mercy. As a father tolerates the impudence of his son, or a friend tolerates the impertinence of a friend, or a wife tolerates the familiarity of her partner, please tolerate the wrongs I may have done You.
Context & Meaning
A prayer of extraordinary beauty: please tolerate me as a father tolerates a son, as a friend forgives a friend, as a spouse accepts a beloved. Arjuna is asking not for justice but for grace — the forgiveness that comes from love, not from merit. And in doing so, he names three of the five great relationships of devotion in Vaishnava theology.
Scholar Commentaries
1 commentary · Public domainRamanujacharya
VishishtadvaitaThe three relationships named — father-son, friend-friend, and spouse — correspond to three of the rasas (modes of divine love). Arjuna's request encompasses all three at once, showing the fullness of his devotional orientation. He seeks the Divine not in one mode but in the totality of relationship.