5-15

नादत्ते कस्यचित् पापम् न चैव सुकृतम् विभुः ।
अज्ञानेन आवृतम् ज्ञानम् तेन मुह्यन्ति जन्तवः ॥ १५ ॥

nAdatte kasyacit pApam na caiva sukRtam vibhuH |
ajJAnena AvRtam jJAnam tena muhyanti jantavaH || 15 ||

विभुः [vibhuH] The omnipresent Self नादत्ते [nAdatte] does not take up कस्यचित् पापम् [kasyacit pApam] anyone’s sinful deeds. न चैव [na caiva] Nor does it take up सुकृतम् [sukRtam] any virtuous deeds. ज्ञानम् [jJAnam] The inherent knowledge in the Self आवृतम् [AvRtam] is concealed अज्ञानेन [ajJAnena] by ignorance. तेन [tena] Due to this, जन्तवः [jantavaH] the various beings मुह्यन्ति [muhyanti] are misled into believing that the body is their Self.

It is stated here, that ‘the Self does not take over the sins and virtuous deeds of anyone’. To elaborate, it cannot remove the sins of people whom we love, such as our children. Neither does it take away the virtuous deeds of those we dislike. The word ‘omnipresent’ has been used to describe the Self over here, meaning that the Self is not confined to a certain space. Being confined in a body, or having various relationships (either good or bad) is not a part of its natural state. All this is made up by notions created out of past deeds.

The Self is pure knowledge, covered over by ignorance. This makes the variety of this world.

How did these notions, which drive against the basic nature of the Self, come into being? The answer has been stated in this Shloka: ‘The inherent knowledge in the Self is concealed by ignorance’. What this sentence says is: We’re constrained to experience the results of our actions, because the knowledge inherent within the Self is concealed by the influence of our actions – which we have committed since ancient times. This influence is unfavorable to the realization of the Self. In this way, the true nature of the Self - a form that is pure and infinite knowledge, is concealed by the influence of ancient actions committed by us.

Due to this influence, it gets associated with a particular body at a given point in time, resulting in mistaken notions about the Self. We derive perceptions, judgements and desires out of the results of our actions, in line with these mistaken notions about ourselves. Due to these notions, an impression of the Self arises, which is not at all our inherent nature. From that, the deeds that we commit arise – these are driven by our desires and they add on to the influence of our ancient actions.

Next, the Lord links up the statements in 4-36 (‘You will cross over all the misery by the boat of knowledge alone’), 4-37 (‘In the same way, the fire of knowledge will burn down all your past actions’), 4-38 (‘There is nothing in this world, which is equal to knowledge in its flawlessness’) and praises the appropriateness of the message contained in them.