Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7, Verse 27
इच्छाद्वेषसमुत्थेन द्वन्द्वमोहेन भारत | सर्वभूतानि सम्मोहं सर्गे यान्ति परन्तप ||
icchā-dveṣa-samutthena dvandva-mohena bhārata sarva-bhūtāni sammohaṁ sarge yānti parantapa
O Arjuna, with the rise of desire and aversion, born from the delusion of duality, all beings become bewildered at the time of creation.
Krishna describes the root cause of delusion: duality. 'Icchā-dveṣa-samutthena dvandva-mohena'—with the rise of desire and aversion, born from the delusion of duality. 'Sarva-bhūtāni sammohaṁ sarge yānti'—all beings become bewildered at the time of creation. This verse shows that delusion comes from duality—the pairs of opposites (pleasure/pain, gain/loss, success/failure) create desire and aversion, which lead to delusion. At the time of creation (birth), all beings enter this delusion. This connects to verse 7.13's teaching about delusion and verse 7.26's teaching about beings, showing why most people are deluded.