Looking at the Cultural Background
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PURPORT
Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya was an impersonalist from the materialistic point of view. But he never denied the spiritual form known as  sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha , or the eternal, all-blissful form of knowledge which existed before the material creation. When he spoke of Supreme Brahman as impersonal, he meant that the Lord's  sac-cid-ānanda  form was not to be confused with a material conception of personality. In the very beginning of his commentary on the  Gītā , he maintains that Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme Lord, is transcendental to the material creation. The Lord existed before the creation as the transcendental personality, and He has nothing to do with material personality. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the same Supreme Personality, and He has no connection with a material body. He descends in His spiritual, eternal form, but foolish people mistake His body to be like ours. Śaṅkara's preaching of impersonalism is especially meant for teaching foolish persons who consider Kṛṣṇa to be an ordinary man composed of matter.
No one would care to read the  Gītā  if it had been spoken by a material man, and certainly Vyāsadeva would not have bothered to incorporate it into the history of the  Mahābhārata . According to the above verses,  Mahābhārata  is the history of the ancient world, and Vyāsadeva is the writer of this great epic. The  Bhagavad-gītā  is identical with Kṛṣṇa; and because Kṛṣṇa is the Absolute Supreme Personality of Godhead, there is no difference between Kṛṣṇa and His words. Therefore the  Bhagavad-gītā  is as worshipable as Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself, both being absolute. One who hears the  Bhagavad-gītā  "as is" actually hears the words directly from the lotus lips of the Lord. But unfortunate persons say that the  Gītā  is too antiquated for the modern man, who wants to find out God by speculation or meditation.
—3—
I salute Thee, O Kṛṣṇa, 
  O Thou who art the refuge 
  Of ocean-born Lakṣmī 
  And all who take refuge 
  At Thy lotus feet. 
  Thou art indeed 
  The wish-fulfilling tree 
  For Thy devotee.