नादत्ते कस्यचित् पापं न चैव सुकृतं विभुः। अज्ञानेनावृतं ज्ञानं तेन मुह्यन्ति जन्तवः॥५-१५॥
nādatte kasyacit pāpaṃ na caiva sukṛtaṃ vibhuḥ | ajñānenāvṛtaṃ jñānaṃ tena muhyanti jantavaḥ || 5.15 ||
The all-pervading Lord takes neither sin nor merit from anyone — ignorance veils knowledge and deludes all beings.
Word by word (7)
- na ādatte
- — does not take / does not accept / does not absorb
- kasyacit pāpam
- — the sin of anyone
- na ca eva sukṛtam
- — nor indeed the good deeds / merit
- vibhuḥ
- — the all-pervading Lord / the omnipresent
- ajñānena āvṛtam
- — covered/veiled by ignorance
- jñānam
- — knowledge / Self-knowledge
- tena muhyanti jantavaḥ
- — by that are beings deluded / confused
The all-pervading Lord (vibhuḥ) does not absorb anyone's sin, nor anyone's merit. The Lord is untouched by both. Beings are deluded not because the Lord has taken their sin upon himself, nor because they are being punished — but because ignorance (ajñāna) has veiled the natural Self-knowledge that would liberate them.
A modern analogy
The sun does not take on the darkness of clouds, nor does it 'give' light — it simply shines. The clouds (ajñāna) cover it temporarily. When clouds clear, sunlight is naturally there. The Lord is the sun; ignorance is the cloud; beings mistake the cloud for darkness.
What it does NOT mean
The Lord does not act as a judge who collects and rewards merit or punishes sin. The confusion of beings is not orchestrated — it is the natural consequence of ajñāna veiling jñāna. Remove the veil, and liberation is natural.
Take with you
- Sin and merit are real as functional categories within prakriti/svabhāva — they bind the jīva (individual soul). But the vibhuḥ (omnipresent ātman/Brahman) is untouched by them.
- The cause of suffering is not divine punishment — it is ajñāna veiling jñāna. The remedy is therefore jñāna — not appeasing an offended God.
- You are not intrinsically broken or sinful — you are covered. The covering is ajñāna; what it covers is always already whole.
V15 closes the four-verse cluster (V12-15) dealing with freedom, governance, and ignorance. Two moves: (1) The vibhuḥ (omnipresent Lord/ātman) neither accumulates sin nor merit — the Lord is neutral, uninvolved, beyond moral accounting. This directly follows V14: if the Lord creates neither action nor fruit-union, it logically cannot be the recipient of sin or merit generated by those actions. (2) Ajñāna veils jñāna, and that veiling is the mechanism of delusion. The word jantavaḥ (beings/creatures) carries the connotation of 'those who are born' — emphasizing that delusion is the condition of embodied existence as such, not the punishment of the virtuous or vicious specifically. The path out is not moral improvement per se but the removal of the veil — which is the function of Self-knowledge (ātma-jñāna) enabled by karma-yoga purification.
Modern parallels
Jungian psychology describes the 'shadow' as material that veils the wholeness of the psyche — not because the psyche is broken but because parts of it have been excluded from consciousness. Integration (making the unconscious conscious) restores wholeness. The Gita's ajñāna-āvṛta-jñāna is structurally parallel: the whole is always there; the veil (not the absence of the whole) is the problem.
Practice
In meditation, when the sense of 'I am unworthy / sinful / broken' arises — recognize it as a thought arising in awareness. Ask: 'Who is aware of this thought?' The awareness that sees the thought of brokenness is itself whole. That wholeness is the jñāna the verse speaks of. It was never gone — only temporarily covered.
Public-domain translations (6) compare all →
"The all-pervading Lord does not take on the sin of anyone, nor the merit. Knowledge is veiled by ignorance — by that beings are deluded." [1]
"The all-pervading Spirit is not affected by the sin or merit of any; wisdom is enveloped by ignorance; by that are the beings deluded." [4]
"The OMNIPRESENT taketh the virtue or the sin of none; wisdom is enveloped by unwisdom, whereby mortals are bewildered." [5]
"The all-pervading spirit doth not take the sins or the virtues of any one. Wisdom is clouded by ignorance, which causes the delusion of all creatures." [6]
"God taketh no man's sins, nor yet his deeds of righteousness. Wisdom is wrapped in darkness; mankind errs because of darkness." [7]
"The Lord accepts nobody's sin, nor virtue either. Knowledge is surrounded by ignorance. By that are these beings deluded." [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
The Lord creates neither doership, actions, nor fruit-unions for the world — svabhāva alone operates.
As fire reduces wood to ash, so jñānāgni burns all karmas completely to ash.
Veiled by yoga-māyā, I am not manifest to all — this deluded world does not recognize Me, the Unborn, the Imperishable.
One yet appearing divided in all; sustaining yet devouring; creating yet consuming — this is the Knowable.
You grieve for those who should not be grieved for — and call it wisdom.
With mind attached, practising yoga, taking refuge in Me — hear how you shall know Me fully, without doubt.