Sanskrit
पश्य मे पार्थ रूपाणि शतशोऽथ सहस्रशः । नानाविधानि दिव्यानि नानावर्णाकृतीनि च ॥
paśya me pārtha rūpāṇi śataśo'tha sahasraśaḥ nānāvidhāni divyāni nānāvarṇākṛtīni ca
Translation
Behold, O Pârtha, a Form of Me, a hundredfold, a thousandfold, various in kind, divine, various in colours and shapes.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Krishna answers instantly — no hesitation, no negotiation over whether Arjuna is ready. But notice the grammar of the answer itself: Arjuna asked to see “Thy Form” (singular, verse 3), and what’s offered back is “forms” — plural, hundredfold, thousandfold, from the very first word. The mismatch is the whole chapter in miniature: there was never going to be one shape to look at.