16.15 Who is there like me? Krishna speaks

आढ्योऽभिजनवानस्मि कोऽन्योऽस्ति सदृशो मया
यक्ष्ये दास्यामि मोदिष्य इत्यज्ञानविमोहिताः

āḍhyo ’bhijanavān asmi ko ’nyo ’sti sadṛiśho mayā
yakṣhye dāsyāmi modiṣhya ity ajñāna-vimohitāḥ
aneka-chitta-vibhrāntā moha-jāla-samāvṛitāḥ
prasaktāḥ kāma-bhogeṣhu patanti narake ’śhuchau

I am wealthy and well-born. Who is there like me? I shall offer sacrifices, I shall give, I shall enjoy.” So they think, deluded by unknowing.

Explanation

Who is there like me?

The speech ends with wealth, birth, and a rhetorical question — and then, without any shift in tone, I shall offer sacrifices, I shall give, I shall enjoy.

The ritual and the giving are on the same list as the enjoying. That is the chapter's sharpest point about offerings, and it makes it by ventriloquism rather than by accusation.

Word by word

āḍhyaḥ: wealthy
abhijana-vān: having highly placed relatives
asmi: me
kaḥ: who
anyaḥ: else
asti: is
sadṛiśhaḥ: like
mayā: to me
yakṣhye: I shall perform sacrifices
dāsyāmi: I shall give alms
modiṣhye: I shall rejoice
iti: thus
ajñāna: ignorance
vimohitāḥ: deluded aneka—many
chitta: imaginings
vibhrāntāḥ: led astray
moha: delusion
jāla: mesh
samāvṛitāḥ: enveloped
prasaktāḥ: addicted
kāma-bhogeṣhu: gratification of sensuous pleasures
patanti: descend
narake: to hell
aśhuchau: murky