Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 11, Verse 31
आख्याहि मे को भवानुग्ररूपो
नमोऽस्तु ते देववर प्रसीद।
विज्ञातुमिच्छामि भवन्तमाद्यं
न हि प्रजानामि तव प्रवृत्तिम्।।
नमोऽस्तु ते देववर प्रसीद।
विज्ञातुमिच्छामि भवन्तमाद्यं
न हि प्रजानामि तव प्रवृत्तिम्।।
ākhyāhi me ko bhavān ugra-rūpo
namo ’stu te deva-vara prasīda
vijñātum icchāmi bhavantam ādyaṁ
na hi prajānāmi tava pravṛttim
also searched as "akhyahi me ko bhavan ugra-rupo"
Translation
Tell me, who are You with this terrible form? Salutations to You, O Supreme God. Be gracious to me. I desire to know You, the Primal One. I do not know Your activities.
Vāṇi's rendering
Who are you, terrible one? I bow; be gracious. First being, I want to know you — your work bewilders me.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| आख्याहिākhyāhi | tell, declare |
| मेme | to me |
| कःkaḥ | who (appears as 'ko' by sandhi) |
| भवान्bhavān | you (spoken with respect) |
| उग्ररूपःugra-rūpaḥ | of fierce, terrible form (appears as 'ugra-rūpo' by sandhi) |
| नमःnamaḥ | salutation, a bow (appears as 'namo' by sandhi) |
| अस्तुastu | let there be (elided to ’stu after namo) |
| तेte | to you |
| देववरdeva-vara | O best among the shining ones |
| प्रसीदprasīda | be gracious, be kind |
| विज्ञातुम्vijñātum | to know fully |
| इच्छामिicchāmi | I wish, I want |
| भवन्तम्bhavantam | you |
| आद्यम्ādyam | the first, the one before all |
| नna | not |
| हिhi | indeed |
| प्रजानामिprajānāmi | I understand |
| तवtava | your |
| प्रवृत्तिम्pravṛttim | working, going-forth, what you are doing |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11 Verse 31 mean?
Arjuna asks Krishna outright: who are you, in this fierce form? He bows, begs for grace, and admits he cannot follow what Krishna is doing. It is the first clear sentence he manages after the vision — a confession of not-knowing offered as worship rather than complaint.
What does 'akhyahi me ko bhavan ugra-rupo' mean?
Ākhyāhi me — tell me. Kaḥ bhavān — who are you. Ugra-rūpaḥ — you of terrible form. Arjuna does not soften the word ugra. The face before him is frightening, he says so, and he still asks it to speak. Naming the fear plainly is what lets him keep standing.
Why does Arjuna say he does not know Krishna's activity?
Pravṛtti means what someone is engaged in, the direction of their work. Arjuna can see the form but not the purpose. He has known Krishna as charioteer and friend; now the scale has changed and the friend's intention is unreadable. Intimacy, he discovers, is not the same as comprehension.
What can I take from this verse when life feels overwhelming?
Arjuna gives you the order of things: bow, ask for grace, then ask for understanding. He does not wait to feel calm before speaking. When something is too large to hold, you are permitted to say so out loud and still stay in relationship with it. The asking itself is the steadiness.
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Commentary
Arjuna has seen everything and understands nothing. That is the honest state after a vision too large for the mind, and notice what he does: he bows first, then asks. Not 'explain yourself' — namo 'stu te, and then who are you. Fear has not left him; he speaks through it. He does not pretend the terrible form is comfortable, and he does not run. He asks. When something in your life has grown too big to manage — a grief, a change, a work whose shape you cannot see — the question is not what it is. It is whether you can bow to what you do not yet understand.