10.19

Sanskrit

हन्त ते कथयिष्यामि दिव्या ह्यात्मविभूतयः । प्राधान्यतः कुरुश्रेष्ठ नास्त्यन्तो विस्तरस्य मे ॥ १९ ॥

hanta te kathayiṣyāmi divyā hy ātmavibhūtayaḥ prādhānyataḥ kuruśreṣṭha nāsty anto vistarasya me

Translation

Blessed be thou! I will declare to thee My divine glory by its chief characteristics, O best of the Kurus; there is no end to details of Me.

Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain

Explanation

Krishna’s answer opens with a disclaimer that frames everything through verse 39: he will give only the “chief characteristics” (prādhānyataḥ) because “there is no end to details of” him. This caveat, stated before a single example is given, is repeated and expanded in verse 40 — the list to come was never meant to be read as exhaustive.