Sanskrit
आख्याहि मे को भवानुग्ररूपो नमोऽस्तु ते देववर प्रसीद । विज्ञातुमिच्छामि भवन्तमाद्यम् न हि प्रजानामि तव प्रवृत्तिम् ॥
ākhyāhi me ko bhavān ugrarūpo namo'stu te devavara prasīda vijñātum icchāmi bhavantam ādyaṃ na hi prajānāmi tava pravṛttim
Translation
Reveal Thy Self; what awful Form art Thou? I worship Thee! Have mercy, God supreme! Thine inner Being I am fain to know; This Thy forth-streaming Life bewilders me.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Sixteen verses of pure description (15 through 30) finally give way to a direct question — “ākhyāhi me ko bhavān,” tell me who you are. It’s a striking admission: Arjuna has been narrating an overwhelming vision in precise, vivid detail this whole time without actually knowing what it is he’s looking at. The request is answered immediately and without any of the riddling the Gita sometimes favors — Krishna’s reply in the very next verse is as direct as the question.