Chapter 5, Verse 18
विद्याविनयसम्पन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि | शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः ||५-१८||
vidyāvinayasampanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini . śuni caiva śvapāke ca paṇḍitāḥ samadarśinaḥ ||5-18||
Meaning
5.18 Sages look with an eal eye on a Brahmana endowed with learning and humility, on a cow, on an elephant, and even on a dog and an outcaste.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna gives one of the Gita's most radical statements of spiritual equality. The wise (panditah) are sama-darshinah — they see with equal vision a learned and humble Brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and even a shvapaka, an outcaste of the lowest social rank. To worldly eyes these are vastly different; to the eye of wisdom they are equal.
The equality is not a denial of outer differences in form, intelligence, or station. Rather, the sage perceives the one changeless Self — the same divine consciousness — dwelling within every being. The body and circumstances differ; the indwelling Reality is identical. This vision of sameness is the fruit of self-knowledge: once you recognize your own true Self, you cannot help but recognize the same Self everywhere. Such equal-sightedness naturally dissolves prejudice, contempt, and the divisions that fracture human life.
💡 Key Takeaway
The wise see the same divine Self in every being, high or low — equal vision is the natural fruit of self-knowledge.
Related Verses
यत्साङ्ख्यैः प्राप्यते स्थानं तद्योगैरपि गम्यते | एकं साङ्ख्यं च योगं च यः पश्यति स पश्यति ||५-५||
yatsāṅkhyaiḥ prāpyate sthānaṃ tadyogairapi gamyate . ekaṃ sāṅkhyaṃ ca yogaṃ ca yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati ||5-5||
5.5 That place which is reached by the Sankhyas or the Jnanis is reached by the Yogis (Karma Yogis). He sees, who sees knowledge and the performance of action (Karma Yoga) as one.
योगयुक्तो विशुद्धात्मा विजितात्मा जितेन्द्रियः | सर्वभूतात्मभूतात्मा कुर्वन्नपि न लिप्यते ||५-७||
yogayukto viśuddhātmā vijitātmā jitendriyaḥ . sarvabhūtātmabhūtātmā kurvannapi na lipyate ||5-7||
5.7 He who is devoted to the path of action, whose mind is ite pure, who has conered the self, who has subdued his senses and who realises his Self as the Self in all beings, though acting, is not tainted.
इहैव तैर्जितः सर्गो येषां साम्ये स्थितं मनः | निर्दोषं हि समं ब्रह्म तस्माद् ब्रह्मणि ते स्थिताः ||५-१९||
ihaiva tairjitaḥ sargo yeṣāṃ sāmye sthitaṃ manaḥ . nirdoṣaṃ hi samaṃ brahma tasmād brahmaṇi te sthitāḥ ||5-19||
5.19 Even here (in this world) birth (everything) is overcome by those whose minds rest in eality; Brahman is spotless indeed and eal; therefore they are established in Brahman.