Sanskrit
हृषीकेशं तदा वाक्यमिदमाह महीपते । सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये रथं स्थापय मेऽच्युत ॥
hṛṣīkeśaṃ tadā vākyam idam āha mahīpate senayor ubhayor madhye rathaṃ sthāpaya me'cyuta
Translation
And spake this word to Hrishîkesha, O Lord of Earth: In the midst, between the two armies, stay my chariot, O Achyuta,
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Arjuna speaks for the first time in the chapter, and his very first request — addressed to Krishna as “Achyuta,” the unshaken one — is simply to be positioned squarely between the two armies. It’s an unremarkable tactical request that turns out to be the whole chapter’s turning point: that close-up vantage is exactly what triggers the crisis described from verse 26 onward.