nādatte kasyacitpāpaṃ na caiva sukṛtaṃ vibhuḥ .
ajñānenāvṛtaṃ jñānaṃ tena muhyanti jantavaḥ ||5-15||
The Lord takes neither the demerit nor even the merit of any; knowledge is enveloped by ignorance, thereby beings are deluded.
In simple words
Krishna says: "The divine does not take on anyone's sins or merits. But most people are confused about this because their understanding is covered by ignorance — like a light hidden under a cloth."
Contemporary scholarly and practical interpretations for modern seekers.
Swami Sivananda
5.15 न not? आदत्ते takes? कस्यचित् of anyone? पापम् demerit? न not? च and? एव even? सुकृतम् merit? विभुः the Lord? अज्ञानेन by ignorance? आवृतम् enveloped? ज्ञानम् knowledge? तेन by that? मुह्यन्ति are deluded? जन्तवः beings.Commentary Knowledge is enveloped by ignorance. Conseently man is deluded. He thinks? I act. I enjoy. I have done such and such a meritourious act. I will get such and such a fruit. I will enjoy in heaven. I will get a birth in a rich family.Of anyone even of His devotees.Man is bound when he is identifies himself with Nature and its effects -- body? mind? Prana or the lifeforce? and senses. He attains freedom or Moksha when he identifies himself with the immortal? actionless Self that dwells within his heart.When I does not act how can God accept good or evil deeds (Cf.V.29)
Swami Chinmayananda
This interpretation draws on a specific tradition and may not represent the view of any single school. For authoritative guidance within a specific tradition, seek a qualified teacher.
The all-pervading Supreme Self neither accepts the sinful actions of anyone nor their virtuous deeds. This teaching differs from the conception of deities described in the Puranas, where they are portrayed as keepers of the account of living beings' sins and merits. Devotees who love narratives find the Vedantic principle troubling to their affection, and therefore prefer to study the divine play of Sri Krishna instead of the Gita, becoming absorbed in emotional devotion. There exists a common conception of God as one seated somewhere in the sky beyond the clouds, observing the good and evil actions of all creatures in the world, keeping account of them so that on the day of judgment after the dissolution of creation, when all beings come before Him, He may dispense justice according to their deeds. This charming notion can only belong to ordinary people whose intellect is not highly developed. We cannot accept that the Supreme Self, who is the substratum of the entire universe, has any purpose in the actions of life or any special interest in limited objects. From the perspective of ultimate truth, the limited world has no absolute existence. Only due to forgetfulness of the Self does that Self, expressed through limiting conditions, appear bound to agency, action, and the enjoyment of fruits. Sunlight passing through clear glass undergoes no distortion, but when that same light passes through a prism, it divides into seven colors. Similarly, the one, unique, all-pervading, complete Supreme Self, when expressed through the limiting conditions of body, mind, and intellect—which are born of ignorance—appears as the manifold illusion of the world.
Here is presented a beautiful description of the relationship between knowledge and ignorance. Ignorance cannot be knowledge, nor can knowledge be a part of ignorance. Due to their mutually contradictory nature, their coexistence is impossible. Yet it is said here that ignorance covers knowledge—just as in a dense forest where darkness pervades everywhere, we might see a ray of light in the distance and say that light is covered by darkness. In the next verse, the means of removing the veil of ignorance and the fruits of its removal are explained in detail.
In the process of unveiling truth, only the removal of ignorance is necessary, not the creation of knowledge. Therefore, the attainment of truth is truly the attainment of what already exists, not a new acquisition. To clarify this very point, it is said—