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Neither by the study of the Vedas and sacrifices, nor by gifts nor by rituals nor by severe austerities can I be seen in this form in the world of men by any other than thyself, O great hero of the Kurus (Arjuna).

Not by the Vedas, sacrifices or study, not by gifts, not by rites, and not by severe austerities can I be seen in this form in the world of men by anyone but you, hero of the Kurus.

Krishna lists the means people have used to reach the divine: study of the Vedas and sacrificial lore, charitable gifts, ritual acts and fierce austerities. None of them can bring a person in the human world to see this form. Only Arjuna has seen it. The verse does not dismiss these practices, which the Gita elsewhere values; it says only that they cannot by themselves produce this vision. It underlines once more that the vision was grace. It also prepares for the answer Krishna will give at the end of the chapter, when he names the one means that does open the way.