Chapter 5 Sanyasa Yoga Verse 17
Shloka
Vidyaavinaya sampanne braahmane gavi hastini;
Shuni chaiva shvapaake cha panditaah samadarshinah.
Translation
Sages look with an equal eye on a Brahmin endowed with learning and humility,
on a cow, on an elephant, and even on a dog and an outcaste.
Interpretation
This sloka is a very important sloka which deals with the qualities of a sage who after acquiring the knowledge elevates himself to the higher levels of spirituality. Here Lord Krishna says that a sage looks everyone with an equal eye when he has acquired a lot of knowledge. When he sees a cow and a brahmin who is endowed with the highest level of learning both are equal in the eyes of the sage. The same is the case if he sees an elephant which is huge in size or a dog or an outcaste the way he looks at them is similar to the way he looks at a brahmin and a cow.
Extending Interpretation to Mankind’s Life!
We need to look at two things here. First is the vision of a learned person and the other is the way we look at people according to their birth, and according to the family in which they are born. In today’s world also a person who is born in a brahmin family is proud of his birth than what he actually is. Brahmin is a quality and that quality is not got by his birth. The quality is through his actions. A brahmin is someone who has a lot of knowledge, who is wise and who has the ability to renounce anything without having the attachment. When someone is not able to do so, he is not a brahmin even though he was born in a brahmin family. In the same way, a person who is not born in a brahmin family is a brahmin if he exhibits those qualities of a brahmin.
The second aspect is seeing everyone with an equal eye. Its easier said than done. Our culture, upbringing and many other things force us to form perceptions on people and we always look at their caste in forming those perceptions. Though the present generation is slowly getting rid of them, there is still a lot of social and cultural stigma that is attached which is slowing down this process. But one thing I realised, after reading this sloka is this: Every being is the creation of God and the birth is totally dependent on the Karma. Every being has the same soul, which is equally pure. Whether it is the brahmin or a outcaste the soul is the same. Respect the soul in him to respect the creation of God.
