नादत्ते कस्यचित्पापं न चैव सुकृतं विभुः | अज्ञानेनावृतं ज्ञानं तेन मुह्यन्ति जन्तवः || १५ ||
nādatte kasyacit pāpaṃ na caiva sukṛtaṃ vibhuḥ ajñānenāvṛtaṃ jñānaṃ tena muhyanti jantavaḥ
na—never; ādatte—accepts; kasyacit—anyone's; pāpam—sin; na—nor; ca—also; eva—certainly; sukṛtam—pious activities; vibhuḥ—the all-pervading Supreme; ajñānena—by ignorance; āvṛtam—covered; jñānam—knowledge; tena—by that; muhyanti—are deluded; jantavaḥ—the living beings.
“The all-pervading Self takes neither the sin nor the virtue of anyone. Knowledge is covered by ignorance — by that, beings are deluded.”
God (or the Self) does not mechanically dispense sin and merit as a capricious judge. Rather, the universe functions through the law of karma — beings themselves create their destiny through their own actions and orientations. However, the root cause of their entanglement is ajnana — ignorance of their own divine nature. This ignorance veils the Self's natural purity and creates the illusion of limitation, separateness, and bondage.
When you feel guilty about past mistakes or arrogant about past achievements, remember that these accumulations belong to the conditioned ego, not to your essential Self. Your true nature was never stained. Recognising this does not excuse harmful actions — it frees you from being defined by them.