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BG 10.33

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अक्षराणामकारोऽस्मि द्वन्द्व: सामासिकस्य च ।
अहमेवाक्षय: कालो धाताहं विश्वतोमुख: ॥ ३३ ॥

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akṣarāṇām a-kāro ’smi
dvandvaḥ sāmāsikasya ca
aham evākṣayaḥ kālo
dhātāhaṁ viśvato-mukhaḥ

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Synonyms

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akṣarāṇām — of letters; a-kāraḥ — the first letter; asmi — I am; dvandvaḥ — the dual; sāmāsikasya — of compounds; ca — and; aham — I am; eva — certainly; akṣayaḥ — eternal; kālaḥ — time; dhātā — the creator; aham — I am; viśvataḥ-mukhaḥ — Brahmā.

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Translation

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Of letters I am the letter A, and among compound words I am the dual compound. I am also inexhaustible time, and of creators I am Brahmā.

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Purport

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A-kāra, the first letter of the Sanskrit alphabet, is the beginning of the Vedic literature. Without a-kāra, nothing can be sounded; therefore it is the beginning of sound. In Sanskrit there are also many compound words, of which the dual word, like rāma-kṛṣṇa, is called dvandva. In this compound, the words rāma and kṛṣṇa have the same form, and therefore the compound is called dual.

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Among all kinds of killers, time is the ultimate because time kills everything. Time is the representative of Kṛṣṇa because in due course of time there will be a great fire and everything will be annihilated.

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Among the living entities who are creators, Brahmā, who has four heads, is the chief. Therefore he is a representative of the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa.

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