Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.16.51
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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soḍhavyaḥ
—
should be tolerated
Future passive participle of √sah — to bear. Titikṣā — patient tolerance — is itself a divine quality. Cf. Caitanya: tṛṇād api sunīcena... Krishna's first command to His devotees is to tolerate.
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śānta - ātman
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O Supreme peaceful Soul
Compound: śānta + ātman. Bhagavān addressed by His peaceful aspect. The wives appeal not to the daṇḍadhāra Kṛṣṇa of the moments before but to the śānta-ātmā beneath the action.
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ajānataḥ
—
of (one who is) ignorant
Present participle of a + √jñā — not knowing. The wives' theological argument: Kāliya did not know who He was. Gauḍīya: ignorance is itself a ground of forgiveness; offense knowingly committed is far worse.
Because of their extreme anxiety, in this verse Kāliya’s wives mention the same idea twice: that the Supreme Lord should kindly forgive their foolish husband. The Supreme Lord is śāntātmā, the supreme peaceful Soul, and therefore the Nāgapatnīs suggest it would be proper for Him to overlook, at least this once, the great offense committed by the ignorant Kāliya.
"You should tolerate once the offense Kaliya has committed against your devotees. Having been taught a lesson by you, if Kaliya again harasses your devotees you are not obliged to forgive him." Twice they ask Krsna to forgive Kaliya, to express their fervent state. Krsna is addressed as santa , peaceful, because that is the cause of forgiveness. "Because Kaliya is foolish, without knowledge, he is qualified for forgiveness."
Therefore it is proper that you forgive him. The offense committed by the citizen should be tolerated and forgiven by the master, the nourisher, who is like a father. You should completely forgive since you are the embodiment of peacefulness. By his nature as a species in ignorance, he was devoid of knowledge and thus did not recognize you. Even when you displayed astonishing pastimes he could not recognize you. Or, since the master forgives once, you the eternal Lord, carrying out creation and maintenance, should forgive much more.
- Whose foolishness am I refusing to forgive 'even once' that the Lord forgave first?
- Where would I ask for mercy if I admitted I did not know what I was doing?
Once, at least once, a master should tolerate his subject's mistake. Our husband did not know who You were. Please forgive him as a parent forgives a child who did not understand. The wives appeal to Bhagavān's identity as protector — the master forgiving a household offense.
The Bhāgavatam records repeated cases where Bhagavān tolerates extraordinary offenses — Durvāsā's persecution of Ambarīṣa, Vṛkāsura's attempt to test Śiva by trying his vara, etc. — and intervenes only with infinite restraint.
The wives appeal to this consistent character: Bhagavān is by nature śānta-ātman, possessed of patient mercy. Their prayer is not a request for unprecedented kindness; it is a request for His usual kindness.
My note
Source: vedabase.io