​Gita 10.33 – Re-envision attraction to language and words to become attracted to Krishna

Thank you here Krishna continues describing his opulences he states here among the letters is interestingly Prabhupada translates this as of letters I am the letter A now the alphabet in English and the alphabet in Sanskrit is different of course there are similarities there are correlates and the first letter of Sanskrit alphabet and the first letter of the English alphabet they are correlated so it's O in Sanskrit and it's A in English so Krishna Prabhupada makes a Sanskrit point it's the point which is coming from Sanskrit cultural context accessible to us by using by not just translating it but by transposing it into the English alphabetical context in Sanskrit we have like that in English we have usually we are deciding vowels and consonants are separated in English the vowels and consonants are mixed together in the same one sequence from A to Z and still the point is that Sanskrit alphabet has a visual and verbal set of symbols that enable us to communicate with others so language and linguistic communication marks a very significant step onwards in our evolution of human consciousness it is through language that we can learn about various subjects it is through language largely that the learning from one person can be communicated to another person ultimately it is language that enables us that acts as the tool by which spiritual wisdom can be shared from one shared by spiritual by the spiritual teachers the spiritual seekers so in this extraordinary phenomena known as language and language is definitely an extraordinary phenomena in this extraordinary phenomena known as language we have the the first letter as being a manifestation of Krishna so what this implies is that the power of language as it is sometimes said that the pen is mightier than the sword the power of language which language begins with a particular letter the first letter is Krishna that means the power of language is the manifestation of Krishna's power not just the power, the intelligence, the brilliance all that is there in language all that is possible through the presence of alphabets and among them the first alphabet is manifesting Krishna's opulence so especially if we consider Sanskrit language the O is almost like an implicit sound in all sounds in all letters O is included the English A doesn't have necessarily that that characteristic so in Sanskrit when we have Ram in English we translate it not as Ram we spell it not as Ram but Ram the idea that O sound is always there in Sanskrit so this is not so Aksharanam Akaar is not just the first sound the first of letters but it is the letter that is present in all letters and in that way it is present throughout language and thus it is a manifestation it acts as a manifestation of Krishna's opulence now we have letters and from letters we form words and words come together to form compound words so in Sanskrit there is Samas and there is Sandhi. Samas is the joining together of two words to form a compound word that is called a Samas and Sandhi is the separation of two words or the rules by which we can understand what a combined or compound word comprises so Samas now usually if you have a compound word if we say co-operate now actually co is not exactly a word but it is a prefix basically two things have been brought together so if we have prefurbished or refurbished that also is a prefix so in the prefix actually the initial letter is important it can be intensifier it can be alterer of meaning but it is not the primary it is not the primary determiner of meaning so point is that in some places where two words combine together in some cases the first word may be more important or the first important word may be less important in different kinds of compound words Vanduha means it is a compound word in which both the words have equal weightage, equal value so for example if we have the word Ramakrishna so now Ram and Krishna are both names of the lord both are proper nouns and thus the weight of both is equal so Krishna says that among the various samasas so when two words come together if the two words are brought together in such a way that both are given equal power then that is a special thing and that special combination where the power of both words is retained that is Vanduha and Krishna says I am the manifestation among samasas or Vanduha so here the underlying principle is that we can see Krishna manifested everywhere some people are verbophiles or they call it verbivores also, verbivores means that they love words and and they go deep into the etymology how did this word come from how does this word change over the centuries and just love getting lost in words now when we as devotees see this and if we connect that with Krishna then we understand that the words are for those people manifesting the attractiveness of Krishna and that's why people are getting so attracted to these words otherwise the words by themselves how can they have such phenomenal attractive potency so now some people love certain words in fact certain speakers and authors are known by their use of specific words or specific combination of words so that also indicates that they have for them Krishna has manifested through that combination of words and has attracted them so the best is that if we are not just attracted towards words but we are attracted towards words that attract us towards Krishna words that describe about Krishna and his glory words that expose the nature of material notion all these can enable us to move closer towards Krishna and thus redirect our consciousness from that which is attracted to towards the one who is the source of all attractiveness and then Krishna goes on Kala is the power of time is time itself Akshaya means that which is never destroyed that which is imperishable that which is so time deteriorates everything but time never gets deteriorated and that time is the manifestation of Krishna now Krishna will talk about the same thing later also in the later chapter when he will say that 11th chapter so imperishable time, inexhaustible time translates it as so everything gets exhausted but time just moves on and on and on and on and on that is the inexhaustibility of time now one point related is that of course time also is considered to be eternal in the sense that there are phases of time and those phases we can say the present is temporary but time itself is an eternal principle time is a manifestation of Krishna as Kunti Maharani says in 1.8.28 that I am Vishvatomukha, I am Brahma so among the dhatas among the creators, Prabhupada explains here that I am Brahma, so there can be many different creators and who can create on a magnitude and magnificence as Brahma has created, he has created the whole universe, thus it is he who manifests Krishna's opulence of capacity to create.