नादत्ते कस्यचित्पापं न चैव सुकृतं विभुः । अज्ञानेनावृतं ज्ञानं तेन मुह्यन्ति जन्तवः ॥
nādatte kasyacitpāpaṃ na caiva sukṛtaṃ vibhuḥ | ajñānenāvṛtaṃ jñānaṃ tena muhyanti jantavaḥ ||
Translation
The all-pervading Self takes on neither the sin nor the merit of anyone. Knowledge is veiled by ignorance — by this, beings are deluded.
Interpretation
The Self (vibhu — the all-pervading one) is eternally pure. It does not accumulate merit or sin — those belong to the ego-persona, the bundle of conditioned patterns. So why do people suffer and sin? Because knowledge (jnana) of one's true nature as the pure Self is covered by ignorance (ajnana). This covering creates the illusion of a separate, vulnerable, desiring self — and from that illusion flows all delusion, all seeking, all suffering. The solution is not behavioral change alone but the lifting of this veil through knowledge.