Sanskrit
तमुवाच हृषीकेशः प्रहसन्निव भारत । सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये विषीदन्तमिदं वचः ॥
tam uvāca hṛṣīkeśaḥ prahasann iva bhārata senayor ubhayor madhye viṣīdantam idaṃ vacaḥ
Translation
Then Hrishîkesha, smiling, as it were, O Bhârata, spake these words to him, despondent, in the midst of the two armies.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
A small but pointed narrative detail: Krishna responds “smiling, as it were.” Commentators have long read this smile as significant — not mockery, but the gentle amusement of someone who already sees past the crisis Arjuna is convinced is unanswerable. What follows, starting at the next verse, is that answer.