FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.20.2

श्रीभगवानुवाच एष तेऽकार्षीद्भङ्गं हयमेधशतस्य ह । क्षमापयत आत्मानममुष्य क्षन्तुमर्हसि ॥ २ ॥
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
[shree-bhagavaan uvaacha]
eṣa te ’kārṣīd bhaṅgaṁ
[esha te ’kaarsheed bhangam]
haya-medha-śatasya ha
[haya-medha-shatasya ha]
kṣamāpayata ātmānam
[kshamaapayata aatmaanam]
amuṣya kṣantum arhasi
[amushya kshantum arhasi]
śrī-bhagavān uvāca — the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Viṣṇu, spoke eṣaḥ — this Lord Indra te — your akārṣīt — performed bhaṅgam — disturbance haya — horse medha — sacrifice śatasya — of the one-hundredth ha — indeed kṣamāpayataḥ — who is asking pardon ātmānam — unto yourself amuṣya — him kṣantum — to forgive arhasi — you ought.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Viṣṇu, spoke
eṣa te ’kārṣīd bhaṅgaṁ
eṣaḥ
this Lord Indra
te
your
haya-medha-śatasya ha
kṣamāpayata ātmānam
amuṣya kṣantum arhasi
akārṣīt
performed
bhaṅgam
disturbance
haya
horse
medha
sacrifice
śatasya
of the one-hundredth
ha
indeed
kṣamāpayataḥ
who is asking pardon
ātmānam
unto yourself
amuṣya
him
kṣantum
to forgive
arhasi
you ought.
Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, said: My dear King Pṛthu, Indra, the King of heaven, has disturbed your execution of one hundred sacrifices. Now he has come with Me to be forgiven by you. Therefore excuse him.

In this verse the word ātmānam is very significant. It is a custom among yogīs and jñānīs to address one another (or even an ordinary man) as one’s self, for a transcendentalist never accepts a living being to be the body. Since the individual self is part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the self and the Superself are qualitatively nondifferent. As the next verse will explain, the body is only a superficial covering, and consequently an advanced transcendentalist will not make a distinction between one self and another.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
The Lord said: Here is Indra who stopped the hundredth horse sacrifice. You should forgive Indra, since he is asking forgiveness from you. He (amuṣya) is asking forgiveness from you (ātmānam).
Viṣṇu says: Indra disturbed your 100th sacrifice; he's come with Me to seek forgiveness — please excuse him. The Supreme personally brokers reconciliation; if He's the mediator, the answer can only be yes.
Reflection Questions
  • Whose forgiveness am I withholding when even the Lord has personally arrived to ask on their behalf?
  • Where do I make myself a smaller mediator than the Mediator behind me?
📝 My note

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