अक्षराणामकारोऽस्मि द्वन्द्वः सामासिकस्य च | अहमेवाक्षयः कालो धाताहं विश्वतोमुखः || ३३ ||
akṣarāṇām akāro 'smi dvandvaḥ sāmāsikasya ca aham evākṣayaḥ kālo dhātāhaṁ viśvato-mukhaḥ
akṣarāṇām—of letters; a-kāraḥ—the letter 'A'; asmi—I am; dvandvaḥ—the dual compound; sāmāsikasya—of compounds; ca—and; aham—I am; eva—certainly; akṣayaḥ—inexhaustible; kālaḥ—time; dhātā—the creator; aham—I am; viśvataḥ-mukhaḥ—the all-pervading.
“Of letters I am the letter A; of compound words I am the dual. I am also inexhaustible time, and of creators I am Brahma, whose faces look in all directions.”
The letter 'A' (akāra) is not merely the first letter of the Sanskrit alphabet; it is the primordial sound, the spontaneous expression of open breath, the basis from which all other sounds emerge. In identifying Himself with akāra, Krishna identifies Himself with the primordial ground of all language, all communication, and all articulation of truth.
The practice of listening to the inner sound — the subtle hum or silence behind all external noise — connects directly to what this verse points to. The primordial sound 'A' of 'Om' is not invented; it is discovered as the fundamental resonance of being itself. Sound meditation (nāda yoga) is one of the most direct routes to this experience.