THE FIRST VOWEL-SOUND

"31. I am the wind among the swift, Rama among those who wield weapons, the alligator among fishes, the Jahnavi [Ganga] among rivers.

32. In all creation I am the beginning, the end and even the middle, O Arjuna, the knowledge of the Self among knowledges, the Speech of all those who debate.

33. I am the first vowel-sound [a] among letters, the dual among compounds. I am also the inexhaustible Time, the Giver who faces all directions.

34. I am Death, destroyer of all, and the origin of all that will be in the future. Among women, I am fame, prosperity, speech, memory, intelligence, firmness and mercy.

(...)

40. There is no end to My divine manifestations, O Vanquisher of foes. What I have described is only a brief exposition of My limitless forms.

41. Whatever exists and is imbued with power, glory and magnificence, know that it has come out of a spark of My splendour.

42. But what is the point of your knowing all these details, o Arjuna? - I stand supporting the whole of this cosmos with a sole fragment of Myself."

The Bhagavadgita, C. 10, trad. Vrinda Nabar & Shanta Tumkur, London: Wordsworth Editions, 1997, pp. 45-46.