Bhagavad Gita 5.15

nādatte kasyacit pāpaṁ

na caiva sukṛtaṁ vibhuḥ

ajñānenāvṛtaṁ jñānaṁ

tena muhyanti jantavaḥ

 

“The Lord never impels anyone to misdeeds,

Nor seeks credit for their good deeds.

Their wisdom is covered by ignorance deep,

Deluded, they seek things that make them weep.”

 

My dear Lord, something inside me frequently catches hold of me and impels me to do things I know are harmful.

Protect me, O Lord, from this malevolent force, and protect me especially from the most sinister illusion it hoists upon me—the notion that it is actually you who are my inner destroyer. If I believe this toxic illusion, then I stop fighting against my inner enemy and instead start fighting to justify the actions it impels me to do.

Help me remember that you are always my greatest well wisher and benefactor. Indeed, it was because I was ignorant of you and your beneficial will that I previously acted in short-sighted ways, creating deep-rooted conditionings within me over time. Those conditionings have now become this self-destructive force.

Thankfully, my Lord, you do not hold my past actions against me. Whenever I take even baby steps toward make healthy choices by struggling against these dark conditionings, you, my Lord, eagerly and expertly  help me succeed—first in restraining them, then in rejecting them, and eventually in removing them completely.

Help me, my Lord, to never mistake the dark inner voice to be your voice. Let me listen instead to your voice, which comes unambiguously through your sacred words in scripture and through your representatives. I beg you, my Lord, to empower me through those words to expel this inner destroyer once and for all.

05.15 Nor does the Supreme Lord assume anyone’s sinful or pious activities. Embodied beings, however, are bewildered because of the ignorance which covers their real knowledge.