FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.27.8

స త్వం మమైశ్వర్యమదప్లుతస్యకృతాగసస్తేఽవిదుష: ప్రభావమ్ । క్షన్తుం ప్రభోఽథార్హసి మూఢచేతసోమైవం పునర్భూన్మతిరీశ మేఽసతీ ॥ ౮ ॥
sa tvaṁ mamaiśvarya-mada-plutasya
[sa tvam mamaishvarya-mada-plutasya]
kṛtāgasas te ’viduṣaḥ prabhāvam
[kritaagasas te ’vidushah prabhaavam]
kṣantuṁ prabho ’thārhasi mūḍha-cetaso
[kshantum prabho ’thaarhasi moodha-chetaso]
maivaṁ punar bhūn matir īśa me ’satī
[maivam punar bhoon matir eesha me ’satee]
saḥ — He tvam — Yourself mama — of me aiśvarya — of rulership mada — in the intoxication plutasya — who is submerged kṛta — having committed āgasaḥ — sinful offense te — Your aviduṣaḥ — not knowing prabhāvam — the transcendental influence kṣantum — to forgive prabho — O master atha — therefore arhasi — You should mūḍha — foolish cetasaḥ — whose intelligence mā — never evam — thus punaḥ — again bhūt — may it be matiḥ — consciousness īśa — O Lord me — my asatī — impure .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
sa tvaṁ mamaiśvarya-mada-plutasya
saḥ
He
tvam
Yourself
mama
of me
aiśvarya
of rulership
mada
in the intoxication
plutasya
who is submerged
kṛtāgasas te ’viduṣaḥ prabhāvam
kṛta
having committed
āgasaḥ
sinful offense
te
Your
aviduṣaḥ
not knowing
kṣantuṁ prabho ’thārhasi mūḍha-cetaso
prabhāvam
the transcendental influence
kṣantum
to forgive
prabho
O master
maivaṁ punar bhūn matir īśa me ’satī
atha
therefore
arhasi
You should
mūḍha
foolish
cetasaḥ
whose intelligence
mā
never
evam
thus
punaḥ
again
bhūt
may it be
matiḥ
consciousness
īśa
O Lord
me
my
asatī
impure .
  • aiśvarya-mada-plutasya — of one submerged in the intoxication of rulership
    Compound: aiśvarya (lordship) + mada (intoxication) + pluta (drowned). The flood imagery is exact — Indra tried to drown Vraja and was himself drowning in mada. The Bhāgavatam returns the metaphor.
  • kṛta-āgasaḥ — having committed offense
    Compound: kṛta (done) + āgas (sin, transgression). The Vedic word āgas — older and graver than pāpa — places Indra in the lineage of confessing kings. Specific naming is the substance of repentance.
  • kṣantum — to forgive
    Infinitive of √kṣam (to forgive, to be patient). Paired in the verse with arhasi (You should). Kṣamā is Kṛṣṇa's own constitutional quality; Indra asks Him only to act on what He already is.
  • mūḍha-cetasaḥ — of one whose intelligence is bewildered
    Compound: mūḍha (bewildered) + cetas (intelligence). Indra refuses the dignified self-image; he calls his own buddhi bewildered. Bhakti requires this honesty about the instrument of perception.
  • asatī — impure
    Feminine of asat — un-real, impure. The same word used elsewhere for an unchaste wife — applied here (modifying matiḥ, consciousness) to the mind that wandered from Bhagavān. Indra prays the mind never again be asatī.
Engrossed in pride over my ruling power, ignorant of Your majesty, I offended You. O Lord, may You forgive me. My intelligence was bewildered, but let my consciousness never again be so impure.

Although Lord Kṛṣṇa protected the residents of Vraja by lifting Govardhana Hill, He had not yet punished Indra himself, and Indra feared that at any moment Śrī Kṛṣṇa might call the son of Vivasvān, Yamarāja, who punishes impudent persons who defy the laws of God. Indra was quite fearful and thus begged the Lord’s forgiveness on the plea that he could be purified only by Kṛṣṇa’s mercy — that he was too stubborn to learn a good lesson through mere punishment. In fact, despite Indra’s humility in this case, his heart was not completely purified. Later on in this canto we find that when Lord Kṛṣṇa once took a pārijāta flower from Indra’s kingdom, poor Indra again reacted violently against the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus, we should aspire to go back to our eternal home in the kingdom of Kṛṣṇa, and should not become entangled in the imperfect life of the material gods.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Engrossed in pride over my ruling power, ignorant of Your majesty, I offended You. O Lord, may You forgive me. My intelligence was bewildered, but let my consciousness never again be so impure.
Commentary

"I lift Govardhana to protect Vraja , not to punish you. I will call Yamaraja and arrange for you punishment now." Fearing such talk, Indra in great fear speaks. "You are the most famous father and guru. Because you are most merciful and forgivingnyou can forgive the offense of this ignorant person (avidusah) immersed in the ocean of power and forgetting your powers. You should not purify me by punishment, because I am like an animal (mudha cetasa). The moment after the master has beaten the animal, it again commits the same offense. Instead you should mercifully correct my bad tendency so that my animal tendencies do not arise again." Indra does not make this prayer with a completely pure heart, for he shows submissiveness in order to save himself. In the seventh verse he mentions this. Then later, at the time of Krsna stealing the parijata flower and other pastimes, he again forgets and commits the same mistake.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

O lord of all devatās like me, or one who is capable of forgiving (prabho)! Because of what I stated (atha), the benefactor of the universe (saḥ) is fit to forgive me even if I have committed offense, caused by not knowing (aviduṣaḥ) your glories, since I was devoid of discrimination (mūḍha-cetasaḥ), since I was proud of my own powers (mamaiśvarya-mada-plutasya). Or, even though I knew (viduṣaḥ) your powers, I committed offense. Thus the offense is greater. But you should forgive me because I forgot (mūḍha-cetasaḥ) about your powers. You should not consider offenses committed out of ignorance. Since you have descended to benefit the universe and are the crest jewel of mercy and generosity, it is insignificant for you to forgive my offense which was committed only once. You should forgive me since I will never again offend you or your devotees (maivaṁ punar). I have the mentality of being an offender to you and your devotees (asatī matiḥ), and I was without knowledge (mūḍha-cetasaḥ). Since I am not capable, how can such offense not occur again? But you can forgive: O person who is capable of doing this (īśa) even though I am an offender! This is the prayer of a person who is not too pure in heart. He realizes his incapability as expressed in the previous verse: being fearful of you only when I am fearful (kale tvam bhayaṁ vīkṣya). He will again forget when Kṛṣṇa takes the pārijāta tree.

Related values
Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Apaishunam (Non-slander)Kshama (Forgiveness / Patience)Asteya (Non-stealing / Honesty)Aparigraha (Non-possessiveness)
Related verses

A child who breaks a vase in the dark and then sees, by lamplight, that it was his mother's wedding gift — that is Indra now. The crime is named, the loss is named, and the plea is simple: forgive, and let me not be this stupid again. Confession in the Bhāgavatam is never abstract; it is specific.

Brahmā's prayer after stealing the calves

When Brahmā in SB 10.14 hid the calves and boys and then saw Kṛṣṇa's reply, he prayed: 'jānanta eva jānantu kim bahūktyā na me prabho — let those who think they know You go on thinking; what is the use of more words from one like me?' His confession was specific and bodily — he fell at Kṛṣṇa's feet eight times.

Indra's stuti here is the parallel devatā-confession. The Bhāgavatam stages the same pattern twice in Canto 10 — once for Brahmā, once for Indra — to teach that even cosmic office-holders need this prayer.

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