Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10, Verse 33

Chapter 10 – Vibhuti Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

अक्षराणामकारोऽस्मि द्वन्द्वः सामासिकस्य च ।
अहमेवाक्षयः कालो धाताहं विश्वतोमुखः ॥

Transliteration

akṣarāṇāmakāro.asmi dvandvaḥ sāmāsikasya ca .
ahamevākṣayaḥ kālo dhātāhaṃ viśvatomukhaḥ ॥

Meaning

Among letters I am the letter A; among compounds I am the dvandva. I alone am imperishable Time, and I am the sustainer whose face is turned everywhere.

Word meanings

अक्षराणाम् – among letters
अकारः – the letter A
अस्मि – I am
द्वन्द्वः – the dvandva (copulative) compound
सामासिकस्य – among compounds
च – and
अहम् – I
एव – alone
अक्षयः – imperishable
कालः – Time
धाता – sustainer, dispenser of fruits
अहम् – I
विश्वतोमुखः – facing in all directions

Anvaya (word order)

अक्षराणाम् अकारः अस्मि, सामासिकस्य च द्वन्द्वः (अस्मि); अहम् एव अक्षयः कालः, अहं विश्वतोमुखः धाता (अस्मि) ।

Explanation

Aksharanam akaro ’smi, ‘among letters I am A’. The Sanskrit alphabet begins with A, and A is hidden in the pronunciation of every consonant: ka is really k plus a. No consonant can be spoken without it. The Aitareya Aranyaka declares that A is the whole of speech, and it is also the first sound of Om. As A pervades all letters, the Lord pervades all beings.

Dvandvah samasikasya cha, ‘among compounds I am the dvandva’. Sanskrit grammar has several kinds of compound: tatpurusha, bahuvrihi, avyayibhava, dvandva and others. In most, one member is primary and the other subordinate; in the dvandva all members are equally important, as in rama-krishnau, ‘Rama and Krishna’, or mata-pitarau, ‘mother and father’. Shankara says it is foremost because the meanings of both members are equally prominent. This equality and balance is a glory of the Lord.

Aham evakshayah kalah, ‘I alone am imperishable Time’. In verse 30 Krishna called Himself time among reckoners, measurable time of moments and years. Here akshaya kala is the endless, eternal time that never runs out, the ground of all change. Ramanuja also sees here time as the great destroyer of all.

Dhataham vishvatomukhah, ‘I am the sustainer facing all directions’. Dhata is the one who upholds all and gives each being the fruit of its deeds. Vishvatomukha, with faces on every side, means one who sees everything at once and orders all. The same word appeared in 9.15.

Context

Verse 32 named glories in the beginning, middle and end of creation, the science of the Self and vada. This verse names the letter A, the dvandva compound, imperishable time and the all-facing sustainer. In the next verse Krishna names all-seizing death, the source of what is to come, and seven feminine qualities.

Life lesson

As A hides within every letter, God hides within everything. In relationships, cultivate the equality and mutual respect of the dvandva compound. And honour time, knowing it as a form of the imperishable Lord.

Key terms

Akara: the letter A, present in every letter
Dvandva: the copulative compound of equal members
Akshaya kala: imperishable, eternal time
Dhata: upholder, dispenser of the fruits of action
Vishvatomukha: facing in all directions