Devanagari
एवमेतद्यथात्थ त्वमात्मानं परमेश्वर ।
द्रष्टुमिच्छामि ते रूपमैश्वरं पुरुषोत्तम ॥ ३ ॥
Verse text
evam etad yathāttha tvam
ātmānaṁ parameśvara
draṣṭum icchāmi te rūpam
aiśvaraṁ puruṣottama
Synonyms
evam
—
thus
;
etat
—
this
;
yathā
—
as it is
;
āttha
—
have spoken
;
tvam
—
You
;
ātmānam
—
Yourself
;
parama-īśvara
—
O Supreme Lord
;
draṣṭum
—
to see
;
icchāmi
—
I wish
;
te
—
Your
;
rūpam
—
form
;
aiśvaram
—
divine
;
puruṣa-uttama
—
O best of personalities.
Translation
O greatest of all personalities, O supreme form, though I see You here before me in Your actual position, as You have described Yourself, I wish to see how You have entered into this cosmic manifestation. I want to see that form of Yours.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
3. O Supreme Lord, what You have spoken about Yourself is all true. O Supreme Person, I desire to see that powerful form of Yours.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
3. O Supreme Lord, what You have spoken about Yourself is all true. O Supreme Person, I desire to see that powerful form of Yours.
Purport
The Lord said that because He entered into the material universe by His personal representation, the cosmic manifestation has been made possible and is going on. Now as far as Arjuna is concerned, he is inspired by the statements of Kṛṣṇa, but in order to convince others in the future who may think that Kṛṣṇa is an ordinary person, Arjuna desires to see Him actually in His universal form, to see how He is acting from within the universe, although He is apart from it. Arjuna’s addressing the Lord as puruṣottama is also significant. Since the Lord is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is present within Arjuna himself; therefore He knows the desire of Arjuna, and He can understand that Arjuna has no special desire to see Him in His universal form, for Arjuna is completely satisfied to see Him in His personal form of Kṛṣṇa. But the Lord can understand also that Arjuna wants to see the universal form to convince others. Arjuna did not have any personal desire for confirmation. Kṛṣṇa also understands that Arjuna wants to see the universal form to set a criterion, for in the future there would be so many imposters who would pose themselves as incarnations of God. The people, therefore, should be careful; one who claims to be Kṛṣṇa should be prepared to show his universal form to confirm his claim to the people.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Whatever You have said about Yourself, such as “I am supporting the whole universe by one of My portions,” is indeed true (evam etad). I do not have any doubt about it. But still, desiring to be fully satisfied, I desire to see that form displaying Your powers. I now want to see, with my eyes, that expansion form of Yours by which You support this world.
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
What You have spoken (āttha) about Yourself (ātmānam) is true, in such verses as viṣṭabhyāham idaṁ. I do not have any doubt at all about it. However, I desire to see, out of curiosity, that form expressing Your power, showing You as the controller of all. O Supreme Lord! O Supreme Person! Since You are supreme, You certainly must know that I desire to see this, and You should fulfill this desire. I naturally relish Your sweetness, and am experiencing Your sweetness. But because You now desire to assume a sharp taste, I have now manifested a desire to experience Your majesty and power.
Surrender Unto Me
Krsna has already explained in Chapter Ten, that there is no way of understanding Krsna's actual position unless on hears from Him.
Arjuna has heard of Krsna's 'asesa', unending glories. He only heard about a little of them. They were described 82 different opulences of Krsna in the previous chapter. But Krsna doesn't have only 82 opulences ‑ His opulences are unlimited (asesa). Arjuna only heard about Krsna's opulences a little bit and now he wants to see that form of unlimited opulences. He has become restless to see because he has already heard.
In this verse Krsna is called by Arjuna as 'Paramesvara' and 'Purusottama'. Purusuttama means 'best of personalities' and Paramesvara means 'Supreme Lord'. Arjuna is saying: "You are both, the best of personalities and the Supreme Lord, so You know why I am asking You to show me this universal form, although I am Your devotee." And why? Why is Arjuna asking this?
Srila Prabhupada answers to this question in his Purport: "But the Lord can understand also that Arjuna wants to see the universal form to convince others. Arjuna did not have any personal desire for confirmation. Krsna also understands that Arjuna wants to see the universal form to set a criterion, for in the future there would be so many imposters who would pose themselves as incarnations of God. The people, therefore, should be careful; one who claims to be Krsna should be prepared to show his universal form to confirm his claim to the people."
To set this criteria that if one is claiming to be God, he has to be ready to shou the universal form. Therefore,