10.33 aksharANAm akAro’smi

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Chapter 10

<< Chapter 10 verse 32

SlOkam – Original

aksharANAm akAro’smi dhvandhva: sAmAsikasya cha |
aham evAkshaya: kAlO dhAthAham viSvathOmukha: ||

word-by-word meaning

aksharANAm – among alphabets
akAra asmi – (I am) akAram (“a”)
sAmAsikasya cha – among compound word formations
dhvandhva asmi – I am dhvandhva samAsam (compound word with importance to both words in the formation)
akshaya kAla – endless time
aham Eva – I am only
viSvathOmukha – one who is having a face for each of the four directions
dhAthA – brahmA the creator (of entities within the universe he controls)
aham – I am

Simple Translation

Among alphabets, I am akAram (“a”); among compound word formations,I am dhvandhva samAsam (compound word with importance to both words in the formation); I am the endless time and I am brahmA the creator (of entities within the universe he controls) who is having a face for each of the four directions.

Rendering based on ALkoNdavilli gOvindhAchArya swAmy’s English translation of gIthA bhAshyam

‘Of the alphabet, I am the letter A; of compound- words, the dvandva[3. Compound formations such as Rāma-Lakshmaṇa.]. I Myself am the perishless Time. I am the all-faced Dhātṛi.’

Among the letters of the Alphabet, I am the letter A, which is the base or root of all other letters. So says Śruti:

‘A-kāra (or Letter A) itself is all speech.'[4. Rig Veda: Aitareya-Āraṇyaka III-2-3 ‘Akaro vai sarvā-vāk.’]

Sāmāsikaḥ means the class of samāsāḥ or compound word-forming (as in Samskṛit). Of the several ways of compounding, I am the collective-compound or compound of which all the terms are substantives or attributes, each term being of equal value with the other, grammatically.

I am Time —never-ending, —composed of the divisions, called kalā[1. Kalā= about 8 Seconds, Muhūrta = 1/30 of the day.] and muhūrta[2. Kalā= about 8 Seconds, Muhūrta = 1/30 of the day.].

I am the Creator of all, viz: Dhātri=Hiraṇyagarbha= the four-faced (Demiurge).

>> Chapter 10 verse 34

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