Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 10, Verse 33: Krishna to Arjuna — Vibhūti-Yoga

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  Among phonemes (akṣara), I am the phoneme 'a' (akāra) — the first and most fundamental, present in all speech. Among the types of compound (samāsa), I am the coordinative compound (dvandva), which equally presents both members without subordinating one to the other. I am imperishable time (akṣaya-kāla), not the time that counts moments toward exhaustion, but Parameśvara who is even the time of time; and I am the Dispenser (dhātā), the ordainer of the fruits of all action, facing everywhere (viśvato-mukha).

  divergence: kālasya-api kālaḥ asmi — Śaṅkara's own phrasing; dhātā = karma-phalasya vidhātā sarvajagataḥ.

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  Among all phonemes I am akāra, the matrix of all speech as established by the Śruti 'akāro vai sarvā vāk' — the whole of speech is this single phoneme expanded. Among the mass of compounds I am the coordinative (dvandva), which is excellent because both members are equally primary. I am imperishable time composed of kalā, muhūrta, and the rest of its parts; and I am Hiraṇyagarbha (Brahmā), the four-faced creator of all, the progenitor who faces every direction.

  divergence: sarvasya sraṣṭā hiraṇyagarbhaḥ caturmukhaḥ aham — Rāmānuja's identification of dhātā.

• Madhvadvaita

  Among phonemes I am akāra; among compounds I am the coordinative dvandva, which honours both members in their genuine distinctness. I am inexhaustible time; and I am the Dispenser (dhātā), ordaining the fruits of action for each eternally distinct jīva according to their individual station and qualification. The Lord is never reduced to a cosmic principle — each of these excellences is a real attribute of the independent Hari in whom all dependent existents are perpetually grounded.

  divergence: ABSENT — no Madhva bhāṣya on 10.33; rendering projected from Dvaita structural commitments. Flagged accordingly.

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  Akāra is the name-bearer of Vāsudeva himself — 'akāro vai sarvā vāk' — so when the Lord says 'I am akāra among phonemes' he is saying: all speech, at its root-syllable, is Kṛṣṇa. Among compounds I am the dvandva, and especially the dvandva 'Rāma-Kṛṣṇa' — the compound that keeps both sacred names equally present, neither dissolved. I am time as ongoing flowing stream (pravāha-rūpa-kāla); and I am the Dispenser, ordaining the fruits of action as Kṛṣṇa's ongoing prasāda to his creation.

  divergence: akāro vāsudevavācakaḥ — Vallabha's own explicit identification; rāmakṛṣṇāv ity-ādi-samāso'smi.

• Śrīdharabhakti

  Among phonemes I am akāra, since the Śruti declares 'akāro hi sarvā vāk' — all utterance is manifested from and through this single phoneme. Among the compound-family I am the coordinative dvandva — as in 'Rāma-Kṛṣṇa' — because it is most excellent, both members primary. The imperishable time I am here is the flowing, never-exhausted stream-time (pravāha-rūpa-kāla), distinct from the life-span time (āyuḥ-kāla) that dwindles when life is spent. Among dispensers of karma-fruits I am the viśvato-mukha dhātā, the ordainer who faces all directions and bestows fruits upon all.

  divergence: pravāharūpaḥ kālaḥ … āyuṣi kṣīṇe sati kṣīyate; atra tu pravāhātmako'kṣayaḥ kāla ucyate iti viśeṣaḥ — Śrīdhara's explicit distinction.

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  Among all phonemes I am akāra — 'akāro vai sarvā vāk' — since it is the most excellent, source of all speech, all other phonemes being its elaboration. Among the entire compound-family I am the dvandva, which alone holds both members as co-primary; the other three compound-types (avyayībhāva, tatpuruṣa, bahuvrīhi) are defective because one or both members are demoted. I am imperishable time (akṣaya-kāla) in the sense of Parameśvara — the one the Śruti calls 'jñaḥ kālakālaḥ guṇī sarvavidyaḥ' — not the destructible time of counted intervals. I am the all-faced Dispenser (viśvato-mukha-dhātā), the sovereign Īśvara who distributes the fruits of all action to all beings.

  divergence: pūrvapadārthapradhāno'vyayībhāvaḥ … teṣām ubhayapadārthasāmyābhāvenāpakṛṣṭatvāt — Madhusūdana's fourfold compound analysis; jñaḥ kālakālaḥ guṇī sarvavidyaḥ (Śruti citation).