Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7, Verse 15 (BG 7.15) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

In the previous verse, it was stated that My devotees transcend maya, and in this verse, the Lord reveals who are those that do not engage in My worship. Without clarifying the distinction between these two types of people, the sincere seeker cannot properly understand which tendencies of the mind are the characteristics of delusion. Those foolish and degraded souls who engage in sinful deeds do not worship the Divine, and the reason is that their discriminative wisdom has been robbed by maya. It is a universally acknowledged truth that the hallmark of human evolution is the faculty of discriminative wisdom. Through this wisdom, one is able to discern between good and evil, high and low, moral and immoral. Wisdom is the very instrument through which a human being can awaken from the dream of ignorance-born existence and directly experience their own pure, conscious nature. Only in those individuals who remain undisturbed by sensory objects does this discriminative power function effectively. The more firmly the identification with the body is established in a person, the more their nature becomes oriented toward sense objects. Therefore, in pursuit of fulfilling desires for sensory enjoyment, such a person will engage even in contemptible actions. From this perspective, sinful action means deeds performed contrary to one's true nature, even after attaining the exalted state of human existence. Those who are deluded, identifying the gross body as their true self, are the ones who commit sinful deeds. Such people are referred to here as foolish and of demoniac nature. The sixteenth chapter of the Gita provides an elaborate description of divine and demoniac qualities. However, those who are virtuous engage in My worship in four ways. The Lord says: