Bhagavad Gita Bhasya (Gambhirananada)

English Translation of Sri Sankaracharya's Sanskrit
Commentary - Swami Gambhirananda
8.24 Agnih, fire-is a deity presiding over a period
of time; similarly, jyotih, light-also is a deity
presiding over a period of time. Or fire and light
are the well-known Vedic deities. As the
expression 'mango grove' is used with regard to a
place where mango trees are more numerous,
similarly, the expressions 'at which time' and 'that
time' (in the earlier verse) are used in view of the
predominance (of the deities presiding over time).
[If the first two (fire and light) are taken as Vedic
deities, then the remaining three are the only
deities of time. Still, the latter being numerically
greater, all the five deities are referred to as deities
of time. The deities of both the Paths-of gods and
manes, or of the Northern and the Southern Paths
as they are called-who are gods of time, are
referred to here as 'time' by such words as day,
fortnight, six months, etc.] So also, ahah, daytime,
means the deity of daytime. Suklah, the bright
fortnight, implies the deity presiding over the
bright fortnight. Sanmasah uttarayanam, the six
months of the Northern solstice-here, too, is
understood the deity presiding over the Path. This
is the principle (of interpretation followed
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