Bhagavad-gītā 11.31
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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ākhyāhi
—
tell
Imperative of ā-khyā, 'to declare.' Arjuna is not asking for explanation; he is asking for declaration. Identity, stated plainly.
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ugra - rūpaḥ
—
of fierce form
Compound: ugra (fierce) + rūpa (form). Arjuna now names the form by its terrible aspect rather than by its splendor — a shift from verse 17's tejaḥ-rāśim.
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deva - vara
—
O greatest of the gods
Vocative compound. Even in fear, Arjuna keeps the polite form of address. Terror does not erase courtesy in the Gītā's etiquette.
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prasīda
—
be gracious
Same imperative as 11.25. Repeated petitions across the chapter — the verb of begging-for-grace returns and returns.
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ādyam
—
the primal
Accusative of ādya, 'first.' Arjuna recognises the form as primal — before which there is no prior, and therefore no other source of meaning. To know the primal is to know the rest derivatively.
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pravṛttim
—
mission, activity
Accusative of pravṛtti — 'engagement, undertaking.' Arjuna asks not just who but what-for. The Lord's pravṛtti is what the next verse will answer: kālo 'smi.
After describing the Lord in His universal form equipped with His time energy, Arjuna, knowing the truth of this form, asks about this form, in order to strengthen His knowledge of the matter. Arjuna had requested the Lord to see that form of power endowed with a thousand heads (verse 3). The Lord showed that form, and then He shows that same form as the most ferocious destroyer. Tell me who You are in that ferocious form. O best deity (devavara)! I offer respects to You. Be merciful, and give up that terrible form. I desire to know You, the first being, particularly (vijṣātum). I do not understand Your action—why have you done this? Tell me the purpose.
Arjuna is asking two questions: (1) who are You? and (2) what is Your mission? And Krsna answers:
[C. "KALO'SMI LOKA‑KSAYA‑KRT" ‑ BECOME MY INSTRUMENT (11. 32‑34) Krsna answers: 'Time I am, destroyer of the world. The great warriors no both sides are already slain by my plan. You can be but an instrument. Arise and fight!"]
Now Arjuna describes Kala-rupa
COMMON THEME: Text 11.19 marks the beginning of description of ‘Kala-rupa’ (The form as Time) which
continues up till Text 11.31
PLEASE NOTE: All points of the purports are included as the sub-points; as such there are no individual ‘Focus of
Learning’ sections for these verses.
ARJUNA’S FURTHER DESCRIPTION OF THE UNIVERSAL FORM AS ‘KALA-RUPA’.
ARJUNA’S QUESTIONS
11.31 आख्याहि tell? मे me? कः who (art)? भवान् Thou? उग्ररूपः fierce in form? नमः salutation? अस्तु be? ते to Thee? देववर O God Supreme? प्रसीद have mercy? विज्ञातुम् to know? इच्छामि (I) wish? भवन्तम् Thee? आद्यम् the original Being? न not? हि indeed? प्रजानामि (I) know? तव Thy? प्रवृत्तिम् doing.No Commentary.
- Voice the question rather than freeze in confusion.
- Ask for the Lord's purpose to be revealed.
- Honor the right to ask.
- What confusion have I been freezing in?
- What asking would unfreeze?
A petitioner who has been struck dumb by the king's full regalia finally finds his voice and asks the one honest question: 'Sir, who are you, and what do you intend?' Arjuna's question is the question every soul must one day put to the Lord — directly, naming the fear, not pretending to be unafraid.
After Hiraṇyakaśipu's death (SB 7.9), the demigods were too afraid to approach the still-raging Nṛsiṁha. Even Lakṣmī hung back. Only the boy Prahlāda was sent forward, and he prostrated himself and prayed — asking the Lord to please be pacified (prasīda).
Arjuna's prasīda in 11.31 stands in this lineage. The Lord's fierce form requires not flattery but the honest petition of a devotee who has nowhere else to go.
My note
Source: vedabase.io