Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 11, Verse 41
सखेति मत्वा प्रसभं यदुक्तं
हे कृष्ण हे यादव हे सखेति।
अजानता महिमानं तवेदं
मया प्रमादात्प्रणयेन वापि।।
हे कृष्ण हे यादव हे सखेति।
अजानता महिमानं तवेदं
मया प्रमादात्प्रणयेन वापि।।
sakheti matvā prasabhaṁ yad uktaṁ
he kṛṣṇa he yādava he sakheti
ajānatā mahimānaṁ tavedaṁ
mayā pramādāt praṇayena vāpi
also searched as "sakheti matva prasabham yad uktam"
Translation
Unaware of Your majesty, and either out of negligence or love, or considering You to be a friend, whatever I have said rudely, such as 'O Krsna, O Yadava, O Comrade,'
Vāṇi's rendering
Thinking you only my friend, I called out 'Krishna! Yadava! Friend!' — blind to this greatness, careless, or simply loving you.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| सखाsakhā | friend (joined with the next word as sakheti) |
| इतिiti | thus, taking you to be |
| मत्वाmatvā | having thought, having assumed |
| प्रसभंprasabhaṁ | boldly, without restraint |
| यत्yad | whatever |
| उक्तंuktaṁ | was said, was called out |
| हेhe | O — the shout of address |
| कृष्णkṛṣṇa | Krishna |
| हेhe | O |
| यादवyādava | Yadava, of Yadu's line — a clansman's name |
| हेhe | O |
| सखाsakhā | friend (again joined as sakheti) |
| इतिiti | thus, in such words |
| अजानताajānatā | by one who did not know |
| महिमानंmahimānaṁ | greatness, majesty |
| तवtava | your |
| इदंidaṁ | this — the greatness now visible (tava + idaṁ = tavedaṁ) |
| मयाmayā | by me |
| प्रमादात्pramādāt | out of carelessness, from not paying attention |
| प्रणयेनpraṇayena | out of affection, from closeness |
| वाvā | or |
| अपिapi | even, simply (vā + api = vāpi) |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11 Verse 41 mean?
Having seen the cosmic form, Arjuna remembers every ordinary name he ever used — Krishna, Yādava, friend — and asks whether such closeness was an offence. He offers two reasons for it: carelessness, or love. The verse holds both without deciding between them, and Krishna never demands he choose.
What is the meaning of sakheti matva prasabham yad uktam?
Sakhā iti matvā — thinking you only a friend. Prasabham — spoken without restraint, the way one speaks across a table rather than across an altar. Arjuna is naming the tone of years of easy talk, now heard against the silence of what he has just been shown.
Was Arjuna wrong to treat Krishna as an ordinary friend?
No. Nothing in Krishna's reply calls it a fault. The friendship is why the teaching could happen at all — Arjuna could collapse in front of him, argue with him, refuse him. Reverence at a distance would have produced no Gītā. Intimacy was the instrument, not the error.
Why does Arjuna say pranayena, out of love, in this verse?
Because he cannot honestly reduce it to carelessness. Pramādāt would be the safe confession; praṇayena is the true one. He is admitting that his informality came from affection, and affection is not something one apologizes for. The word slips out and changes the whole plea.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Arjuna is apologizing for the wrong thing. He has just seen every world burning in Krishna's mouth, and what surfaces is not terror but a memory of names — the shoulder slapped at dinner, the shout across a field. He calls it carelessness. Then, unable to lie, he adds: or simply love. That second word undoes the apology. Familiarity was never the offence; it was the only honest relation he had. Vastness does not cancel friendship, and Krishna never asks him to stop calling. Whatever you have been casual with, you were also close to. Do not let awe make you formal.