Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 7: Knowledge and Realization

Bhagavad Gita 7.15

na māṃ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ | māyayāpahṛtajñānā āsuraṃ bhāvamāśritāḥ ||

Those who do evil, the deluded, the lowest of people, do not take refuge in me. Illusion has carried off their knowledge and they have taken on a demonic nature.

Modern context

Some people do not turn to the divine at all. Krishna names four marks: they do harm, they are confused, they have fallen low, and illusion has robbed them of judgment. The important phrase is 'knowledge carried off'. Such people are not born evil; something has been stolen from them, little by little, by indulgence and self-justification. The verse is a warning, not a verdict on any person. It shows where the road of repeated wrongdoing leads, while there is still time to turn.