11.31
आख्याहि मे को भवानुग्ररूपो
नमोऽस्तु ते देववर प्रसीद ।
विज्ञातुमिच्छामि भवन्तमाद्यं
न हि प्रजानामि तव प्रवृत्तिम् ॥
ākhyāhi me ko bhavān ugrarūpo
namo 'stu te devavara prasīda
vijñātum icchāmi bhavantam ādyaṃ
na hi prajānāmi tava pravṛttim
Arjuna (अर्जुन) is still speaking, to Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण). This is the question 11.32 will answer. Meter: triṣṭubh (त्रिष्टुभ्). Four quarters, eleven syllables each, forty-four in the verse.
The verse
Tell me who you are, of terrible form; homage to you, best of gods, be gracious; I wish to know you, the original, for I do not understand what you are doing.
नेपालीमा
भयानक रूप भएका तपाईं को हुनुहुन्छ भन्नुहोस्, हे देवतामध्ये श्रेष्ठ, तपाईंलाई नमस्कार, कृपालु हुनुहोस्। म आद्य तपाईंलाई चिन्न चाहन्छु, किनकि तपाईं के गर्दै हुनुहुन्छ म बुझ्दिनँ।
Where it sits
The description stops on a question. Who, and what is the activity. Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) answers in the next verse with a name: time. Everything since 11.15 has been driving at pravṛttim (प्रवृत्तिम्).
Split: आख्याहि + मे + कः + भवान् + उग्र-रूपः + नमः + अस्तु + ते + देव-वर + प्रसीद + विज्ञातुम् + इच्छामि + भवन्तम् + आद्यम् + न + हि + प्रजानामि + तव + प्रवृत्तिम्
ākhyāhi + me + kaḥ + bhavān + ugra-rūpaḥ + namaḥ + astu + te + deva-vara + prasīda + vijñātum + icchāmi + bhavantam + ādyam + na + hi + prajānāmi + tava + pravṛttim
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| आख्याहि | ākhyāhi | imperative, 2nd singular | tell. From ā-khyā (आ-ख्या). The ending --hi (हि) is the imperative. |
| मे | me | dative | to me. |
| कः | kaḥ | nominative | who. |
| भवान् | bhavān | nominative | you. The respectful "you." |
| उग्र-रूपः | ugra-rūpaḥ | nominative | of terrible form. |
| नमः | namaḥ | indeclinable | homage. |
| अस्तु | astu | imperative, 3rd singular | let it be. |
| ते | te | dative | to you. |
| देव-वर | deva-vara | vocative | best of gods. |
| प्रसीद | prasīda | imperative | be gracious. |
| विज्ञातुम् | vijñātum | infinitive | to know fully. |
| इच्छामि | icchāmi | present, 1st singular | I wish. |
| भवन्तम् | bhavantam | accusative | you. The accusative of bhavān (भवान्). |
| आद्यम् | ādyam | accusative | the first. The original. |
| न | na | indeclinable | not. |
| हि | hi | indeclinable | for. |
| प्रजानामि | prajānāmi | present, 1st singular | I understand. |
| तव | tava | genitive | your. |
| प्रवृत्तिम् | pravṛttim | accusative | the activity. The way you are proceeding. |
The phrases
आख्याहि मे कः भवान् उग्र-रूपः ākhyāhi me kaḥ bhavān ugra-rūpaḥ is the question. Tell me who you are, of terrible form. bhavān (भवान्) is how he addresses him when the old familiarity is not enough.
namaḥ astu te deva-vara prasīda (नमः अस्तु ते देव-वर प्रसीद) bows inside the question. Homage to you. Be gracious.
विज्ञातुम् इच्छामि भवन्तम् आद्यम् न हि प्रजानामि तव प्रवृत्तिम् vijñātum icchāmi bhavantam ādyam na hi prajānāmi tava pravṛttim says what he does not know. I wish to know you, the original, for I do not understand your activity.
Sanskrit in this line
कः + भवान् kaḥ + bhavān is ko bhavān (को भवान्). aḥ (अः) before the voiced bh (भ्) becomes o (ओ). नमः + अस्तु namaḥ + astu is namo 'stu (नमोऽस्तु), the avagraha. bhavān (भवान्) is nominative, the subject of "who are you." bhavantam (भवन्तम्) is the same word in the accusative, the object of vijñātum (विज्ञातुम्). One pronoun, two cases, in one verse.
Say it back
The question, and the thing he does not understand. If pravṛttim (प्रवृत्तिम्) comes out as "your name" only, the activity was missed. He asks both who and what you are doing.