Bhagavad Gita 10.33
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 33 of 42
अक्षराणामकारोऽस्मि द्वन्द्वः सामासिकस्य च | अहमेवाक्षयः कालो धाताहं विश्वतोमुखः ||३३||
akṣarāṇām a-kāro'smi dvandvaḥ sāmāsikasya ca | aham evākṣayaḥ kālo dhātāhaṃ viśvato-mukhaḥ || 33 ||
Among letters I am A; among compounds, the dvandva; I am inexhaustible Time; the all-facing Sustainer.
Word by word (3)
- akṣarāṇāṃ a-kāraḥ asmi
- — Among letters/syllables I am the letter A · akṣarāṇāṃ = among syllables/letters (genitive plural of akṣara = syllable, letter, imperishable — from a = not + kṣara = perishable; akṣara = 'the imperishable one'; also = a syllable/letter, since syllables persist as they are repeated; here used for the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet). a-kāraḥ = the letter/sound A (a = the first vowel of the Sanskrit alphabet; kāra = making/form; a-kāra = 'the a-form, the sound A'). asmi = I am. Among all the letters and syllables of all languages, A is the primal, first letter — the first sound uttered by the vocal apparatus, requiring no movement of lips or tongue (just the open throat-sound). In Sanskrit phonology, A is called the 'seed of all sounds' — all other vowels and consonants arise from the modification of the basic A-sound. The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad begins with OM = A-U-M: the three syllables that together contain all possible sounds. A = the first of the three. V8.13's oṃ ity ekākṣaraṃ brahma (OM = single syllable = Brahman) connects: the letter A is the beginning of OM, which is Brahman. V10.33 identifies A as the letter-vibhūti — the first and most fundamental sound.
- dvandvaḥ sāmāsikasya ca
- — Among compound forms (samāsas) I am the dvandva · dvandvaḥ = the dvandva compound (dvandva = 'pair, couple' — from dva = two + dva = two; dvandva = 'the two-and-two, the paired compound'; in Sanskrit grammar, one of the four major compound forms: (1) dvandva = copulative compound — Rāma-Lakṣmaṇa (both are equal partners: 'Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa'); (2) tatpuruṣa = determinative compound ('city of the king' — rāja-nagara); (3) bahuvrīhi = possessive compound ('one who has a lot' — bahuvrihi); (4) avyayibhāva = indeclinable compound). sāmāsikasya = of compound words/samāsas (genitive singular of sāmāsika = compound word — from samāsa = combination, compound word — from sam + āsa = 'together placed'). ca = and. The dvandva (paired compound) is the vibhūti among all compound forms because it most completely honors both elements — in dvandva, neither partner is subordinated to the other (unlike tatpuruṣa where one specifies the other). Dvandva = mutual completeness. It also mirrors the non-dual vision: two apparent opposites (hot-cold, day-night, Rāma-Lakṣmaṇa) held together as equally real, neither dominating.
- aham eva akṣayaḥ kālaḥ — dhātā ahaṃ viśvato-mukhaḥ
- — I alone am inexhaustible Time; the Sustainer facing all directions · aham eva = I alone (emphatic). akṣayaḥ = inexhaustible, imperishable (a = not + kṣaya = decay/destruction; akṣaya = 'non-decaying, inexhaustible, eternal'). kālaḥ = Time. SW commentary: 'Inexhaustible Time, i.e., Eternity. Kala spoken of before is finite time.' V10.30's kālaḥ kalayatāṃ was finite/measurable time (kāla as the measurer, the counter). V10.33's akṣayaḥ kālaḥ is ETERNITY — the infinite time-ground that contains all finite time. The shift: V10.30's kāla = time as the destroyer/measurer (connects to V11.32); V10.33's akṣaya-kāla = time as the inexhaustible eternal ground (connects to V2.20's nityaḥ śāśvato'yaṃ = the ātman is eternal). dhātā = the Sustainer (dhātā = 'the one who holds/sustains/dispenses' — from √dhā = to place/hold; dhātā = 'the holder, the ordainer, the sustainer who dispenses the fruits of action'). ahaṃ = I am. viśvato-mukhaḥ = the all-faced, facing in all directions (viśvatas = in all directions + mukha = face; viśvato-mukha = 'the one whose face is turned in all directions, facing everywhere simultaneously'). V10.33's dhātā viśvato-mukhaḥ: the Sustainer who holds all things in all directions — a cosmological description of Brahman as the universal ground that sustains all beings by facing toward them from every direction simultaneously.
Among letters I am the letter A; among word-compounds I am the dual; I alone am inexhaustible Time; and I am the Sustainer facing every direction.
A modern analogy
Naming the letter A as the primal sound-expression parallels linguistics: the phoneme /a/ (the open central vowel) appears in virtually every human language and is among the first sounds infants produce (their first sound is often the open-throated /a/ or /aa/ — what all babies say first). This verse's selection of A as the letter-expression is validated by linguistics: A is the most fundamental, universal, and primordial of all sounds — the letter from which all others develop through modifications of breath, lip, and tongue.
What it does NOT mean
This verse names time as a divine expression, and it must be distinguished from the other time-expression named a few verses earlier — where Time appears 'among measurers,' meaning finite, measurable time (the time that measures, counts, and consumes, and which connects to the great vision of the Lord declaring 'I am Time, the world-destroyer'). Here, by contrast, the expression is inexhaustible Time — eternal, unending Eternity (as Swarupananda's commentary notes: the time spoken of before is finite time). Both are expressions of the divine, but different ones: the divine as the destroyer-and-measurer, and the divine as the eternal ground that is beyond all ending.
Take with you
- The letter A becomes a sound meditation: sit quietly and chant a slow, long A sound (aaaaaah) — mouth open, throat open, no constriction. Feel that this is the most fundamental human sound, the seed-sound of the Sanskrit alphabet, the first element of OM (A-U-M). Begin any meditation with three slow, open A-sounds as a primal tuning. Alternatively, A is the silent sound that begins every word you speak — notice the brief pause before each word. That pause is the imperishable (the akṣara) before the perishable sound.
- The paired compound (dvandva, the compound that honors both members equally) becomes a model for integration: wherever you face a seeming opposition in your life (work versus rest, care for self versus care for others, action versus contemplation), try the dvandva resolution: hold both as equally real and valuable, with neither dominating. 'Work-rest' rather than 'work versus rest.' This dvandva-holding is the equal vision (the recognition that two seemingly opposed paths are truly one) applied to inner polarities.
- Inexhaustible, eternal time becomes an antidote to urgency: when caught in urgent time-pressure, briefly touch this verse's eternal time — the inexhaustible ground in which all finite urgency exists. The practice: three breaths, feeling, 'I exist within eternal time. This urgency is real AND it is held within something infinite.' This doesn't eliminate the urgency — but it restores perspective. The karma-yogi's action then comes from the eternal ground rather than from panic.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
Of letters the letter A am I, and Dvandva of all compounds; I alone am the inexhaustible Time, I the Sustainer (by dispensing fruits of actions) All-formed. [4]
Among letters I am the vowel A, and of all compound words I am the Dwandva; I am endless time itself, and the Preserver whose face is turned on all sides. [6]
And 'A' of written characters, Dwandwa of knitted speech, / And Endless Life, and boundless Love, whose power sustaineth each [7]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Uttering OM — the single syllable of Brahman — departing while meditating on Me, one reaches the highest goal.
Among Daityas I am Prahlāda; among measurers, Time; among beasts, the lion; and among birds, Garuḍa.
Intellect, wisdom, patience, truth, calm, restraint, joy, pain, birth, death, fear, fearlessness — all arise from Me.
Whoever does not turn the cosmic wheel of giving — living only for sense-pleasure — lives in vain.
I taught this imperishable yoga to the sun-god at the dawn of time — it has been passed down through kings ever since.
Whenever dharma declines and adharma rises — I project Myself forth. The divine responds to every crisis.
Verse 33 of 42 · back to Chapter 10