Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 5, Verse 15
नादत्ते कस्यचित्पापं न चैव सुकृतं विभुः।
अज्ञानेनावृतं ज्ञानं तेन मुह्यन्ति जन्तवः।।
अज्ञानेनावृतं ज्ञानं तेन मुह्यन्ति जन्तवः।।
nādatte kasyacit pāpaṁ na caiva sukṛtaṁ vibhuḥ
ajñānenāvṛtaṁ jñānaṁ tena muhyanti jantavaḥ
also searched as "nadatte kasyachit papam na chaiva sukritam vibhuh"
Translation
The all-pervasive One takes away neither the sin nor the merit of anyone. Knowledge is enveloped by ignorance, and creatures are thereby deluded.
Vāṇi's rendering
The pervading one takes on no one's sin or merit. Ignorance veils knowing — that is why beings wander.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| नna | not |
| आदत्तेādatte | takes on, receives unto itself (sandhi: na + ādatte becomes nādatte) |
| कस्यचित्kasyacit | of anyone at all |
| पापम्pāpaṁ | wrongdoing, sin |
| नna | nor |
| चca | and |
| एवeva | even, indeed (sandhi: ca + eva becomes caiva) |
| सुकृतम्sukṛtaṁ | good deed, merit |
| विभुःvibhuḥ | the pervading one, present everywhere |
| अज्ञानेनajñānena | by not-knowing, by ignorance |
| आवृतम्āvṛtaṁ | covered over, veiled (sandhi: ajñānena + āvṛtaṁ becomes ajñānenāvṛtaṁ) |
| ज्ञानम्jñānaṁ | knowing |
| तेनtena | by that, for that reason |
| मुह्यन्तिmuhyanti | they wander, are bewildered |
| जन्तवःjantavaḥ | living beings, creatures |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5 Verse 15 mean?
It means the pervading one is not a judge collecting your debits and credits. Sin and merit are not absorbed by anyone else; they belong to the field of your own acting. What actually binds you is that knowing lies covered by ajñāna. Beings wander not because they are punished, but because they cannot see.
What is the meaning of nadatte kasyachit papam na chaiva sukritam vibhuh?
Vibhuḥ is the one spread through everything, and Krishna says such a one neither picks up your wrongdoing nor pockets your goodness. Nearness is not involvement. The sun does not become dirty by shining on mud. Your deeds ripen in your own life, and no cosmic accountant is keeping them for you.
If Krishna does not take my sin, how can he be my refuge?
Refuge is not the transfer of a ledger. Krishna does not carry your wrongdoing away as an object; he removes the ignorance that made you a wrongdoer. This verse names the real disease — knowing veiled — and the whole Gītā is its cure. Absolution without sight would leave you exactly where you stand.
What is the ignorance that veils knowing in this verse?
Not lack of information. It is the covering by which you take yourself to be the body, the name, the doer of every deed. Under that cover, action feels like ownership and outcome feels like fate. Lift it and nothing new appears — the knowing was there the whole time, simply unlit.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
No one is holding your ledger. Krishna says the pervading one takes on no one's sin, no one's merit — not because your acts don't matter, but because they were never handed over to somebody else's keeping. Arjuna wants the weight moved: tell me whose fault this war is. Krishna will not name a bearer. The trouble is not that the accounts are misfiled; it is that knowing is covered over, and beings wander in the dark, bumping into each other and calling it fate. Remove the veil and the wandering stops. Until then, stop waiting for someone to absolve what only seeing can end.