Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 5, Verse 15

The Omnipresent takes note of the merit or demerit of none. Knowledge is enveloped in ignorance, hence do beings get deluded.

The real confusion was never coming from outside, it's a covering over something that was already there.

This locates the actual source of confusion correctly. It isn't imposed from above, it's more like a layer of ignorance sitting over a clarity that already exists underneath, once that's understood, the confusion itself starts to look different.