Sanskrit
तस्मात्प्रणम्य प्रणिधाय कायम् प्रसादये त्वामहमीशमीड्यम् । पितेव पुत्रस्य सखेव सख्युः प्रियः प्रियायार्हसि देव सोढुम् ॥
tasmāt praṇamya praṇidhāya kāyaṃ prasādaye tvām aham īśam īḍyam piteva putrasya sakheva sakhyuḥ priyaḥ priyāyārhasi deva soḍhum
Translation
Therefore I fall before Thee; with my body I worship as it fitting; bless Thou me. As father with the son, as friend with friend, With the beloved as lover, bear with me.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Verse 43 re-ranked the relationship as father and worshipped Guru; this verse immediately asks for tolerance using father-son, friend-friend, and lover-beloved in the same line — three pairings, each intimate, each asymmetric in a different way. Nothing here is a retraction of the earlier apology; it’s a request that the very closeness just called presumptuous be permitted anyway, on the understanding that it flows one way, as something graciously borne rather than rightfully claimed. The prostration (“praṇamya… kāyam,” bowing with the body) makes the asymmetry physical as well as verbal.