Bg. 5.18 · Bhagavad-gita As It Is

Devanagari

विद्याविनयसम्पन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि । श‍ुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिता: समदर्शिन: ॥ १८ ॥

Verse text

vidyā-vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini śuni caiva śva-pāke ca paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ

Synonyms

vidyā — with education ; vinaya — and gentleness ; sampanne — fully equipped ; brāhmaṇe — in the brāhmaṇa ; gavi — in the cow ; hastini — in the elephant ; śuni — in the dog ; ca — and ; eva — certainly ; śva-pāke — in the dog-eater (the outcaste) ; ca — respectively ; paṇḍitāḥ — those who are wise ; sama-darśinaḥ — who see with equal vision.

Translation

The humble sages, by virtue of true knowledge, see with equal vision a learned and gentle brāhmaṇa, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater [outcaste].

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

18. The wise man sees equally the brāhmaṇa endowed with knowledge and good conduct, the cow, the elephant, the dog and dog-eater.

Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

18. The wise man sees paramātmā as equal in creating the brāhmaṇa endowed with knowledge and good conduct, the cow, the elephant, the dog and dog eater.

Purport

A Kṛṣṇa conscious person does not make any distinction between species or castes. The brāhmaṇa and the outcaste may be different from the social point of view, or a dog, a cow and an elephant may be different from the point of view of species, but these differences of body are meaningless from the viewpoint of a learned transcendentalist. This is due to their relationship to the Supreme, for the Supreme Lord, by His plenary portion as Paramātmā, is present in everyone’s heart. Such an understanding of the Supreme is real knowledge. As far as the bodies are concerned in different castes or different species of life, the Lord is equally kind to everyone because He treats every living being as a friend yet maintains Himself as Paramātmā regardless of the circumstances of the living entities. The Lord as Paramātmā is present both in the outcaste and in the brāhmaṇa, although the body of a brāhmaṇa and that of an outcaste are not the same. The bodies are material productions of different modes of material nature, but the soul and the Supersoul within the body are of the same spiritual quality. The similarity in the quality of the soul and the Supersoul, however, does not make them equal in quantity, for the individual soul is present only in that particular body whereas the Paramātmā is present in each and every body. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person has full knowledge of this, and therefore he is truly learned and has equal vision. The similar characteristics of the soul and Supersoul are that they are both conscious, eternal and blissful. But the difference is that the individual soul is conscious within the limited jurisdiction of the body whereas the Supersoul is conscious of all bodies. The Supersoul is present in all bodies without distinction.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Those who are beyond the guṇas have no desire to see any object made of the guṇas in comparative terms of better or worse. They have equal vision. They do not see those in the mode of sattva, such as brāhmaṇas and cows, those in the mode of passion such as the elephant, and those in the mode of ignorance, such as dogs and dog-eaters, as superior or inferior. Being learned, they see equally. Equally (sama) means that they are beyond the guṇas, so that they do not see the particular distinctions due to the guṇas. They have the ability to see Brahman which is beyond the guṇas.

Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

This verse praises those persons. Those who see paramātmā as being equal (sama) in creating unequal bodies for the learned brāhmaṇa and dog eater, differing by actions or duties; and for the cow, elephant and dog, differing in form by species,—they are truly wise. Paramātmā is equal (sama) everywhere, like rainfall, [Note: As the rain falls everywhere and different seeds sprout up, so the Lord equally inspires all jīvas, who develop different bodies according to their karmas.] since the respective species receive their forms according to their respective karmas, not through the Lord’s like or dislike of certain jīvas.

Surrender Unto Me

Here, knowledge refers not only knowledge that one is not this body, but also knowledge of the Supersoul. The brahmana and the cow ‑ are in the mode of goodness. The elephant ‑ is in the mode of passion. The dog and the dog‑eater ‑ in the mode of ignorance. Viswanatha C. Thakura says in this verse: "Such a 'pandit' is 'sama‑darsinah' ‑ one who sees with equal vision." But being a bhakta 'per excellence', Srila Viswanatha brings it up to the platform of 'Bhagavan' realization by saying: " SA‑ MA. Such a person has a vision to see MA (Laksmidevi) and SA (with). Who is with Laksmi? Narayana. So he sees Laksmi‑Narayana or ultimately Radha‑Krsna." On different levels, on the Paramatma level is true and also in the highest Krsna consciousness level.