11.3

Sanskrit

एवमेतद्यथाऽऽत्थ त्वमात्मानं परमेश्वर । द्रष्टुमिच्छामि ते रूपमैश्वरं पुरुषोत्तम ॥

evam etad yathāttha tvam ātmānaṃ parameśvara draṣṭum icchāmi te rūpam aiśvaraṃ puruṣottama

Translation

O supreme Lord, even as Thou describest Thyself, O best of beings, I desire to see Thy Form omnipotent.

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

Explanation

The formal request finally lands: not more description, but sight itself — draṣṭum icchāmi, “I wish to see.” The address “Puruṣottama,” Supreme Person, is notable because it’s the exact title chapter 15 will later spend an entire discourse unpacking; here it’s dropped in almost casually, ahead of the text actually earning it. Arjuna is asking to verify a claim by direct perception rather than take it on report — a very different mode from the reasoned argument Krishna has been building since chapter 2.