Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 10: The Divine Glories

Bhagavad Gita 10.33

akṣarāṇāmakāro'smi dvandvaḥ sāmāsikasya ca | ahamevākṣayaḥ kālo dhātāhaṃ viśvatomukhaḥ ||

Among letters I am the letter A; among compound words I am the pairing compound. I alone am time that never runs out, and I am the creator who faces in every direction.

Modern context

Among letters, A: the first letter of the alphabet and the sound present in every consonant spoken. Among compounds, the dvandva, which joins two words as equals, like 'mother-father'. The images are from grammar, and they are lovely. The divine is the first sound of all speech, and the bond that joins two things without making either smaller. Even language has the sacred hidden in its structure.