किरीटिनं गदिनं चक्रहस्तमिच्छामि त्वां द्रष्टुमहं तथैव ।तेनैव रूपेण चतुर्भुजेन सहस्रबाहो भव विश्वमूर्ते ॥
kirīṭinaṃ gadinaṃ cakra-hastam icchāmi tvāṃ draṣṭum ahaṃ tathaiva |tenaiva rūpeṇa catur-bhujena sahasra-bāho bhava viśva-mūrte ||
- किरीटिनम् · kirīṭinam
- crowned
- गदिनम् · gadinam
- bearing a mace
- चक्रहस्तम् · cakra-hastam
- with discus in hand
- इच्छामि द्रष्टुम् · icchāmi draṣṭum
- I wish to see
- चतुर्भुजेन · catur-bhujena
- with four arms
- सहस्रबाहो · sahasra-bāho
- O thousand-armed one
- विश्वमूर्ते · viśva-mūrte
- O universal-bodied one
“Crowned, mace-bearing, discus in hand — I wish to see you just as before. Take again that four-armed form, O thousand-armed one, O universal-bodied one.”
— Original plain-language translation
Arjuna requests the middle form: not the human charioteer only, but the four-armed Vishnu shape — grandeur made approachable. The vision descends by stages, as it rose by stages.
— Reader's notes (original)