Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 8, Verse 24

अग्निर्ज्योतिरहः शुक्लः षण्मासा उत्तरायणम् । तत्र प्रयाता गच्छन्ति ब्रह्म ब्रह्मविदो जनाः

agnirjyotirahaḥ śuklaḥ ṣaṇmāsā uttarāyaṇam | tatra prayātā gacchanti brahma brahmavido janāḥ

Translation

Fire, light, day-time, the bright fortnight, the six months of the northern solstice — then departing, men who know Brahman reach Brahman.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

agniḥ

fire

jyotiḥ

light

ahaḥ

day

śuklaḥ

bright (fortnight)

ṣaṇmāsāḥ

six months

uttarāyaṇam

the northern-going (of the sun)

tatra

there

prayātāḥ

gone forth

gacchanti

go

brahma

to Brahman

brahmavidaḥ

Brahma-knowing

janāḥ

people

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

'Fire' is the deity presiding over time; so also is 'light' a deity presiding over time. The 'day-time' is the deity presiding over the day-time, the 'bright fortnight' is the deity presiding over the bright fortnight. The six months of the northern solstice: here also, it is the deity that forms the path. Those who die, having been engaged in the contemplation of Brahman, reach Brahman by this path. The expression "in course of time" should be understood after 'reach'; for, those who are firm in devotion to right knowledge and attain to immediate liberation have no place to go to or to return from.