Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 5, Verse 18
विद्याविनयसंपन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि।
शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः।।
शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः।।
vidyā-vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini
śuni caiva śva-pāke ca paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ
also searched as "vidya vinaya sampanne brahmane gavi hastini"
Translation
The sages look with an equal eye on one endowed with learning and humility, a Brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and a dog-eater.
Vāṇi's rendering
In the learned, humble brahmin, the cow, the elephant, the dog, the outcaste — the wise see the same.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| विद्याविनयसंपन्नेvidyā-vinaya-sampanne | in one filled with learning and humility |
| ब्राह्मणेbrāhmaṇe | in a brahmin |
| गविgavi | in a cow |
| हस्तिनिhastini | in an elephant |
| शुनिśuni | in a dog |
| चca | and (part of caiva, joined by sandhi with eva) |
| एवeva | even, indeed (part of caiva) |
| श्वपाकेśva-pāke | in the dog-cooker, the outcaste |
| चca | and |
| पण्डिताःpaṇḍitāḥ | the wise |
| समदर्शिनःsama-darśinaḥ | seers of the same, those whose sight is even |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5 Verse 18 mean?
It means the wise do not see a hierarchy of beings. Krishna sets the most honoured man beside the most despised, with animals between, and says the paṇḍita sees the same in all five. Not the same body, the same knowing. The differences are real; they are simply not what the wise are looking at.
What does vidya vinaya sampanne brahmane gavi hastini teach about caste?
Krishna chooses the śva-pāka deliberately — the one no ritual order would touch. He places that person in the same line as the brahmin adorned with learning. The verse does not soften caste; it says that anyone who still sees by it has not yet seen. Sight this even is what the Gītā calls wisdom.
Does seeing everyone equally mean ignoring real differences?
No. A cow is not an elephant, and Krishna never pretends otherwise. Sama-darśana is not a flattening of the world but a refusal to let difference decide worth. You can know exactly who someone is and still not rank them beneath you. That is the whole discipline of this verse.
How do I practise equal vision in ordinary life?
Begin where the ranking happens — the half-second when you meet someone and place them. You cannot stop that reflex by force. You can catch it. Watch yourself sort the room into people who matter and people who do not, and then look once more at the ones you sorted downward.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna names the top of the ladder and the bottom of it in one breath. The brahmin full of learning and humility — the highest thing a person could be in that world. The outcaste who cooks dog — the lowest, outside the count entirely. Between them, animals. This is not a claim that they are the same in the street; the learned man knows more, the dog barks. It is a claim about what the wise see. Sameness is not blindness to difference; it is sight that goes past it. You already rank everyone you meet, in the first second. Notice the ranking. Then look again.