aká¹£arÄṇÄm a-kÄro ’smi
dvandvaḥ sÄmÄsikasya ca
aham evÄká¹£ayaḥ kÄlo
dhÄtÄhaá¹ viÅ›vato-mukhaḥ

aksaranam--of letters; akarah--the first; asmi--I am; dvandvah--dual; samasikasya--compounds; ca--and; aham--I am; eva--certainly; aksayah--eternal; kalah--time; dhata--creator; aham--I am; visvatah-mukhah--Brahma.


Text

Of letters I am the letter A, and among compounds I am the dual word. I am also inexhaustible time, and of creators I am Brahma, whose manifold faces turn everywhere.

Purport
Akara, the first letter of the Sanskrit alphabet, is the beginning of the Vedic literature. Without akara, nothing can be sounded; therefore it is the beginning of sound. In Sanskrit there are also many compound words, of which the dual word, like Rama-krsna, is called dvandvah. For instance, Rama and Krsna have the same rhythm, and therefore are called dual.
Among all kinds of killers, time is the ultimate because time kills everything. Time is the representative of Krsna because in due course of time there will be a great fire and everything will be annihilated.
Among the creators and living entities, Brahma is the chief. The various Brahma's exhibit four, eight, sixteen, etc., heads accordingly, and they are the chief creators in their respective universes. The Brahmas are representatives of Krsna.