Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 5, Verse 15
नादत्ते कस्यचित्पापं न चैव सुकृतं विभुः । अज्ञानेनावृतं ज्ञानं तेन मुह्यन्ति जन्तवः
nādatte kasyacitpāpaṃ na caiva sukṛtaṃ vibhuḥ | ajñānenāvṛtaṃ jñānaṃ tena muhyanti jantavaḥ
Translation
The Lord takes neither the evil nor even the good deed of any; wisdom is enveloped by unwisdom; thereby mortals are deluded.
— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri
Word meanings
- na
- not
- ādatte
- takes
- kasyacit
- of anyone
- pāpam
- sin
- na
- not
- ca
- and
- eva
- even
- sukṛtam
- virtue
- vibhuḥ
- the Lord
- ajñānena
- by ignorance
- āvṛtam
- enveloped
- jñānam
- wisdom
- tena
- by this
- muhyanti
- are deceived
- jantavaḥ
- beings
Śaṅkarācārya's commentary
"Of any": even of His devotees. To the question, "With what object then is done by devotees any meritorious act?" the Lord says: Discriminative knowledge is enveloped by ignorance. Thereby the ignorant mortal creatures in saṃsāra are deluded and think, "I act, I cause to act, I shall enjoy, I cause to enjoy," and so on.