Bg 10.32
sargāṇām ādir antaś ca madhyaṁ caivāham arjuna
adhyātma-vidyā vidyānāṁ vādaḥ pravadatām aham
Bg 10.33
akṣarāṇām a-kāro ’smi dvandvaḥ sāmāsikasya ca
aham evākṣayaḥ kālo dhātāhaṁ viśvato-mukhaḥ
Translation
32. Among creations, I am the beginning, the middle and also the end, O Arjuna; among sciences I am the Science of the Self and I am the logic in all arguments.
33. Among letters I am the letter 'A' ; among all compounds I am the dual (co-ordinates) ; I am verily, the inexhaustible, or the everlasting time; I am the (All-faced) dispenser (of fruits of actions) having faces in all directions.
Commentary
OF CREATIONS, I AM THE BEGINNING, AND THE END, AND THE MIDDLE TOO --- Here there is an echo of the general statement with which the Lord started His discourse earlier in the chapter (X-20), for enumerating His infinite glories. However, therein He had explained how He was the Essential Stuff in all individual beings; and here it is a more universal statement by which He indicates how He is the Essence in all Creation.
No substance can ever remain divorced from the essential stuff of which it is made. No gold ornament can be made without the metal, gold. No wave from the ocean can be packed separately for the Himalayas. No mud-pot can exist, divorced from the mud. The MATERIAL-cause is the unavoidable essence in all the names and forms, and nothing can ever remain divorced from its own essential-essence. By the above statement, the Lord is indicating that He, as the Self-in-all, is "the beginning, the end and the middle too" of all things in the Universe. The names and forms have arisen from Him, are supported by Him, and they can only merge back into Him when they are destroyed.
The science that explains that Knowledge-Principle, without which no other 'KNOWLEDGE OF THINGS' is ever possible, and which, playing upon the field-of-things, accomplishes our knowledge of them, should necessarily be the Science-of-all-sciences, the best Knowledge. In sunlight, all objects are illumined. Sunlight reflected upon the non-luminous objects of the world makes them perceptible. Naturally, the Sun is the "eye of all eyes," the source of all perceptions. Similarly, the "Science-of-Spirituality" is explained as the "Science-of-all-sciences."
OF ARGUMENTS I AM 'VAADA' --- The term Pravadatam used here, should be understood by us, according to Shankara, as the various forms of arguments. Three types of approaches are often used in all discussions, in all walks of life. In Jalpa, the attempt is to smother the opposition and its arguments by vehement criticism and bitter rejoinders, spoken with an overbearing arrogance in assertions. In the case of Vitanda, the champion of discussion mercilessly criticises the arguments of the opposition, exposing by means, fair or foul, both the real and the imaginary fallacies in their line of arguments; the aim beings to destroy the edifice, built by the other. The third, Vaada, is the technique of discussion by which the one arguing is trying to read the letter and the verse as directly as possible, with the object of coming directly to truth, without indulging in any hair-splitting arguments. It is evident, therefore, that both the former techniques (Jalpa and Vitanda) are only strategies to weaken the enemies, while the actual thrust into the enemy lines and the ultimate real conquest is only through Vaada.
FURTHER:
OF THE ALPHABET I AM THE LETTER 'A' --- It is very well-known that, without the help of vowels, words cannot be pronounced. Of all languages, Sanskrit is particularly sweet because of the preponderance of the 'A' sound in it. In fact, every letter in its combination is to be pronounced in Sanskrit with the sound of 'A' added to it to lengthen it to its full sweetness. This, as it were, lubricates the words, and consequently the language has no back-firing disturbances of rattling nuisance or disgusting hoarseness. Because of this smooth run of the 'A' sound in every letter, there is a melody even between words and a lingering echo between sentences. In fact, after a long chanting of a Sanskrit text in a hall, there is, for the sensitive, a perceptible atmosphere of soothening music in the air that can lull all the agitations of the human mind.
The sound 'A' is not only the essence in each letter of a word --- not only does it transcend, or overflow the sentences and flood the very atmosphere --- but it has itself the first place among the alphabets in all the languages. Realising these implications, the Upanishads declare that the 'A' sound is the essence in all speech.
OF ALL COMPOUND WORDS, I AM THE PAIR --- One of the Sanskrit forms of compounds is the "pair" (dwandwa) in which the essential components co-ordinate with each other in the newly formed compound word. According to Sridhara, perhaps the only commentator who tried to give us the why of this analogy, the dwandwa-method of combining words is very important among all the other types, because of this easy and direct co-ordination of its components. In the context of the usage here, the Self and the non-Self are as though mixed up together, and they constitute the world-of-perceptions experienced by us; but, to the discriminate, the component parts are as distinct as the dissolution of a dwandwa compound is to an educated man.
I ALONE AM THE INFINITE TIME --- Earlier (X-30) also there was a mention that "OF RECKONERS I AM TIME." There the finite time was mentioned, while here, as a contrast, the Infinite and the Absolute Time is indicated. In short, both these statements put together mean that the Self is the Substratum for both the Absolute Concept of pure-Time, and the finite experiences of each moment. But for the awareness of each fraction of time, the total concept of Time is impossible. Here "I am IMMANENT in each individual unit-of-time, and I am TRANSCENDENT, to serve as a substratum for the total-Time."
I AM THE SUSTAINER --- Acharya Shankara comments upon this term and concludes that the Self is the sustainer of mental impressions, and therefore, of the particular trait in a given individual which determines how he will react to the world outside.
FACING ALL QUARTERS AT ONCE --- This term has been exhaustively described earlier by us (IX-16) where it was described that the Self is not only "ONE IN ALL, BUT IS ALSO DIFFERENT FROM ALL, AND, IN EACH, IT FACES EVERYWHERE." The entire implication of that stanza is to be read into this simple-looking phrase, "Facing everywhere" (Vishvato-mukhah). In all perceptions, whether physical, mental or intellectual, there is the grace of the Consciousness which is the Self, and therefore, the phrase is quite self-expressive.
Sources: vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta
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