नादत्ते कस्यचित्पापं न चैव सुकृतं विभु: |
अज्ञानेनावृतं ज्ञानं तेन मुह्यन्ति जन्तव: || 15||
nādatte kasyachit pāpaṁ na chaiva sukṛitaṁ vibhuḥ
ajñānenāvṛitaṁ jñānaṁ tena muhyanti jantavaḥ
na—not; ādatte—accepts; kasyachit—anyone’s; pāpam—sin; na—not; cha—and; eva—certainly; su-kṛitam—virtuous deeds; vibhuḥ—the omnipresent God; ajñānena—by ignorance; āvṛitam—covered; jñānam—knowledge; tena—by that; muhyanti—are deluded; jantavaḥ—the living entities
Translation:
The Lord does not receive either the evil or good of anyone. Knowledge is enveloped by ignorance, and by it, beings are deluded.
Commentary:
The good and the bad done by man affect him only, God does not touch either. If a man does good, he enjoys the fruits of his good work. If he does evil, he suffers the result of his bad actions. God has nothing to do with them. Thus the whole responsibility is placed on man himself, as the maker of his own destiny. It is utter foolishness to imagine that God is conferring happiness on some people and suffering on others. No. He does neither. Man suffers from his own evil deeds. God is the eternal witness of this wonderful human life, with all its passions, victories and defeats, pleasures and pains, loves and hatreds and so on. He is Sakshi (witness).
In the second line, the Lord explains how this so-called earthly life is carried on by all beings. Knowledge is covered up by ignorance and by this, all beings are deluded. Every man in his real nature is the immortal Self and not the perishable body. But by ignorance, man has come to think that he is the body. By this delusion, man is subjecting himself to all the shocks and ills of earthly life and is bound to the wheel of birth and death. But this ignorance (avidya) though is without a beginning has an end. A remote mountain cave is filled with darkness from time immemorial, and yet it is shattered the moment a light is brought into it. Thus Knowledge when it flashes on the heart ends all ignorance in a fraction of a second. When man realises his real nature, ignorance is destroyed. Therefore it is the duty of every man to remove the evil of ignorance and know himself as the immortal Self. There is nothing new to be acquired. Man has only to take off the blinding mask and understand his own true nature.
Question: What is the cause of man’s sorrow?
Answer: Knowledge is covered up by ignorance and hence man is deluded.
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 5 🔻 (29 Verses)
