[Advaita-l] Time not Death

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

[was Re: [Advaita-l] Shiva stuti by Ashwatthāma in the Mahabharata]

On Sat, 17 Jun 2017, V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l wrote:

> कालोऽस्मि लोकक्षयकृत्प्रवृद्धो लोकान्समाहर्तुमिह प्रवृत्तः। (11.33A)
>
> I am the world-destroying Time, [Time: The supreme God with His limiting
> adjunct of the power of action.] grown in stature and now engaged in
> annihilating the creatures.]
>

On a slight tangent this is probably the most famous quote from the Gita 
for English speakers because the scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer famously 
quoted it while witnessing the explosion of the first atomic bomb in the 
translation "Now I am become Death, destroyer of worlds."

But this is poor translation (It is based on Arthur Ryders then popular 
edition I believe.) Death is at best a secondary meaning. Time is the 
principal one.  Births and deaths come and go.  They are effects.  Time is 
the cause.  And Bhagavan is time and even beyond time.


-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>