10.34

Sanskrit

मृत्युः सर्वहरश्चाहमुद्भवश्च भविष्यताम् । कीर्तिः श्रीर्वाक्च नारीणां स्मृतिर्मेधा धृतिः क्षमा ॥ ३४ ॥

mṛtyuḥ sarvaharaś cāham udbhavaś ca bhaviṣyatām kīrtiḥ śrīr vāk ca nārīṇāṃ smṛtir medhā dhṛtiḥ kṣamā

Translation

And all-devouring Death am I, and the origin of all to come; and of feminine qualities, fame, prosperity, speech, memory, intelligence, constancy, forgiveness.

Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain

Explanation

Death that devours all is paired immediately with “the origin of all to come” — the same figure claimed as both ending and beginning in one breath, tightening verse 20’s alpha/omega claim down to a single stark image, before the verse pivots abruptly to a list of feminine qualities in its second half.