When there is friendship, parental affection or conjugal love, such awe and veneration are impediments. For example, when Kṛṣṇa appeared as the son of Vasudeva and Devakī, they prayed to the Lord with awe and veneration because they understood that the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu had appeared before them as their little child. This is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.44.51): "Devakī and Vasudeva, knowing their son to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead, began to pray to Him although He was present before them as their child." Similarly, when Arjuna saw the universal form of the Lord, he was so afraid that he begged pardon for his dealings with Kṛṣṇa as an intimate friend. As a friend, Arjuna often behaved unceremoniously with the Lord, and upon seeing the awesome universal form, Arjuna said:
- sakheti matvā prasabhaṁ yad uktaṁ
- he kṛṣṇa he yādava he sakheti
- ajānatā mahimānaṁ tavedaṁ
- mayā pramādāt praṇayena vāpi
"My dear Kṛṣṇa, sometimes I insulted You by calling You "my dear friend Kṛṣṇa" without knowing the greatness of your inconceivable power. Please forgive me. I was mad to address You like a common friend or a common man." (Bhagavad-gītā 11.41)
Similarly, when Kṛṣṇa was playing jokes on Rukmiṇī, she feared that He might leave her and became so perturbed that she dropped the fan with which she was fanning Him and fainted, falling unconscious to the floor as her hair scattered. She resembled a plantain tree blown down by a blast of wind.