Bhagavad Gita 7.15

na māḿ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ
prapadyante narādhamāḥ
māyayāpahṛta-jñānā
āsuraḿ bhāvam āśritāḥ

Translation of Bhagavad Gita 7.15

Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, who are lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons do not surrender unto Me.

Commentary by Sri Vishvanatha Chakravarthi Thakur of Gaudiya Sampradaya:

“Do not the wise then surrender unto you?”

Yes, those who are wise surrender to me, but those who only think themselves wise do not. Dusta means evil or spoiled, and krtinah means clever. Those who have evil intelligence (duskrtinah) are of four types. One is the mudhah, the fool equal to an animal, the person pursuing enjoyment through his work. It is said:

nunam daivena nihata ye cacyuta-katha-sudham
hitva srnvanty asad-gathah purisam iva vid-bhujah

Because they are averse to the nectar of the activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they are compared to stool eating hogs. They give up hearing the transcendental activities of the Lord and indulge in hearing of the abominable activities of materialistic persons. SB 3.32.19

mukundam ko vai na seveta vina naretarah

Who would not serve Mukunda except a non-human?

Others are naradhamas. For some time they attain the status of a human by accepting the process of bhakti, but then reject it by their own will, thinking that it is not useful as a practice for attaining their goals. They become the lowest (adhama) because of giving up bhakti.

Others, though having studied the scriptures, have their knowledge stolen by maya. They think that Narayana residing in Vaikuntha is obtainable by constant bhakti, but not Krishna or Rama, whom they consider humans. It is said, avajananti mam mudha manusim tanum asritam (BG 9.11). These fools think that I have a human body. This means that though they surrender to me, they do not surrender to me.

Others take shelter of the mood of the asuras. Asuras like Jarasandha, seeing my form, attack it with arrows. They even try to destroy my form in Vaikuntha by their bad arguments, based on faulty logic such as insisting on visible proof. They do not surrender at all.

Commentary by Sri Ramanuja of Sri Sampradaya:

7.15 ‘Evil-doers’, those who commit evil deeds, do not resort to Me. They are of four types, according to the degree of their evil deeds: (i) the foolish, (ii) the lowest of men, (iii) those persons deprived of knowledge by Maya, and (iv) those given to demoniac nature. ‘The foolish’ are those who have misconceived knowledge. True knowledge consists in understanding that the self is dependent on the Lord and exists for Him. But ‘the foolish’ think they are independent and also that all enjoyable things of the world are their own and for their enjoyment. ‘The lowest of men’ are those who are incapable of turning towards Me, even though My essential nature is known to them generally. ‘Persons who are deprived of knowledge by Maya’ are those who, though possessing knowledge about Me and My manifestations, are moved by deceitful reasonings to contend that such knowledge is inconsistent and impossible. ‘Those of demoniac nature’ are those who have positive knowledge about Myself and My manifestation but hate Me. The intensity of sinfulness in these types in the order in which they are successively placed.

Commentary by Sri Sridhara Swami of Rudra Sampradaya:

Why then does not everyone worship Lord Krishna as the Supreme Lord? This verse tersely answers this question describing because they are duskrtino or miscreants, wretches among human beings. Because they are so incorrigible they do not take refuge in the Supreme Lord and offer devotion to Him. What is the cause of their wretchedness? It is because they are in ignorance and bereft of discrimination. Why are they ignorant? It is because they are wicked and sinful. Therefore those who are deprived of discrimination due to the absence of spiritual knowledge from the holy preceptor arising from the teachings of the Vedic scriptures are conscripted by maya’s illusory impressions superimposed upon the mind and engage themselves in despicable and deplorable, diabolical activities. Subsequently they assume a demoniac attitude which has been described as pompous, ostentatious, aggrandising, arrogant, conceited, egocentric, perverted, cruel and vulgar. Such miscreants never even have the opportunity to worship the Supreme Lord.

Commentary by Sri Madhvacharya of Brahma Sampradaya:

Why all intelligent beings do not surrender unto the Supreme Lord Krishna is being declared in this verse. It is because they become degraded due to perverted activities like the most wretched of beings. Deprived of discrimination their intelligence becomes polluted and they perform diabolical activities against creation and themselves and assume demoniac mentalities. Here the word mayayapahrta means stolen by the illusory energy. The Vyasa Yoga states: Awareness is the natural tendency of living entities; by maya or illusory impressions superimposed upon the mind awareness becomes distorted. The word asuram indicating the demoniac comes from the root word a-sura meaning without light. In the Narada Purana it states that among the demigods there is a predominance of knowledge which is light; but among the demoniac asuras there is a predominance of sense entanglement which is the absence of light.

Commentary by Sri Keshava Kashmiri of Kumara Sampradaya:

The question could arise from the previous verse that if devotion to Lord Krishna is the way to salvation then what is stopping everyone from recognising this reality and taking refuge in Him by following the teachings of the bonafide spiritual master from the authorised Vedic scriptures and avail themselves to the means to surmount this difficult maya which is the root cause of perpetual bondage in the material existence. Lord Krishna states duskrtino or miscreants in nescience being of four types do not surrender to the Supreme Lord.

1) mudhahs are grossly foolish persons pursuing material gains like beasts of burden 2) naradhamas are the lowest level of society bereft of even any moral principles 3) mayayapahrta-jnana are empirical philosophers deluded by the illusory energy 4) asuram bhavam asrita are those of demoniac nature engaged in abominable activities

Such miscreants through open deceit and covert subterfuge fabricate false doctrines and concoct erroneous philosophies to contradict the truth of the Supreme Lords glories, attributes and qualities as confirmed in the Vedic scriptures. Such intentional deceptions upon unsuspecting humanity are aparadhas or heinous offences against the Supreme Lord the source of all existence. These activities causes them to be infected and overwhelmed with sinful reactions which propels them to embrace a demoniac mentality with the propensity to perform evil and diabolical activities against all created beings. Thus for them it is impossible to accept the Supreme Lord and even go out of their way to oppose Him and His devotees whenever they have the opportunity. These demons assuming various human forms as well as other hybrid forms have been antagonistic to the Supreme Lord since time immemorial. They are adverse to hearing about the nature, form, qualities, pastimes and powers of the Supreme Lord and they blaspheme and minimise Him in every way possible to them. Because of this due to their ignorance their accumulation of sins multiplies exigently effecting that they permanently remain unfit to accept the truth of the Supreme Lord Krishna’s paramount position as the Supreme controller of all creation. Although many demons are intelligent enough to be able to comprehend the eternal knowledge of divinity as revealed exclusively within the Vedic scriptures; to the contrary they promote their own deluded philosophies in the name of religion always zealously keeping their gods without form, qualities and personality insuring that their gods are perpetually unfathomable, and unreachable, hence permanently unattainable for humanity. Deluded by maya or illusory impressions superimposed upon the mind and being only engrossed in their external senses such demons have no chance in surrendering unto the Supreme Lord Krishna and recognising and accepting Him as the Supreme Controller of all.

Commentary by Sri Adi Shankaracharya of Advaita Sampradaya:

7.15 Mudhah, the foolish; duskrtinah, evildoers, sinners; who are nara-adhamah, the most depraved among men; who are also apa-hrta-jnanah, deprived of, despoiled of (their) wisdom; mayaya, by Maya; and asritah, who resort to; asuram bhavam, demoniacal, ways, such as cruelty, untruthfulness, etc.; na, do not; prapadyante, take refuge; man, in Me, the supreme God.

Commentary by Sri Abhinavagupta of Kaula Tantra Sampradaya:

7.15 Na mam etc. Those who do not take refuge with attention in Me, even while their body remains fit for the purpose, they are evil-doers and the basest of men, deluded, demoniac, i.e. given to darkness (ignorance). Hence, this is only the power of the trick-of-illusion.

Sanskrit to English Word for Word Meanings:

na — not; mām — unto Me; duṣkṛtinaḥ — miscreants; mūḍhāḥ — foolish; prapadyante — surrender; nara-adhamāḥ — lowest among mankind; māyayā — by the illusory energy; apahṛta — stolen; jñānāḥ — whose knowledge; āsuram — demonic; bhāvam — nature; āśritāḥ — accepting.