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Chapter 5
Link:—The Lord in the next verse describes the attitude (vision) of God-realized souls.
vidysvinayasampanne brahmane gavi hastini
suni caiva svapake ca panditah samadarsinah
Sages equate a learned and humble brahmana, a cow, an elephant or even a dog, or a lowly (outcaste), as these have a
vision of God, in all of them. 18
Comment:-
Vidyavinayasampanne brahmane gavi hastini suni caiva svapake ca panditah samadariinah:—Here, two adjectives 'learned' and 'humble', have been used for Brahman, in order to show his perfection, as generally a learned person is not humble, and he becomes proud of his learning. Dealings of a sage with a teamed brahmana, a pariah, a cow, an elephant and a dog would be different. Equal dealings are neither proper nor possible. The scriptures also support this view. A learned and humble brahmana, rather than a pariah is adored, milk is drunk of a cow, rather than of a bitch, while an elephant rather than a dog can be used for riding. When the Lord says, that sages see them with an equal eye, He means to say, that they behold the Lord, pervading everywhere. Therefore, they do not see with an unequal eye.
Here, a doubt may arise, how can their dealings be different, if they have an equal eye? The explanation is, that we see all the parts of our body (forehead, feet, hands and anus etc.,) with an equal eye and think of their welfare, yet our dealings with these are different. When anyone is touched with our feet we feel sorry and beg his pardon, but we do not do so if he is touched with our arm. We show reverence for others, by bowing our head and folding hands, rather than feet. A hand has to be washed, if it touches anus, but it is not washed, if it touches a hand. Showing the forefinger and the thumb to someone, have different meanings, which are well-known to all. In this way, a man has different dealings with different parts of the body, but he loves them equally. He, is not indifferent to any afflicted limb. He, through the likeness of the self, sees equality everywhere, be it pleasure or pain (Gita 6/32). In this way, the wise also have different dealings with different beings according to the difference in their food, qualities, conduct and caste etc., and it is proper also. They behold the Lord, pervading everywhere and so they love all beings and think of their welfare equally, without having any evil propensities, such as attachment, aversion, pride and partiality etc. They have an automatic inclination, to remove the sufferings of other beings and to console and comfort them, in the same way as a person tries to remove the pain of any limb of his body. So, it is said that they see everyone, with an equal eye. The Lord, has mentioned of this equality of vision or even-mindedness, several times in the Gita as "He, who is equal-minded, excels" (6/9); "He sees the same, everywhere" (6/29); "He, through the likeness of the self, sees equality everywhere" (6/32); "Even-minded everywhere" (12/4); "He, who sees the supreme Lord abiding equally in all beings, never perishing when they perish, verily sees" (13/27); and "He sees the same Lord equally dwelling everywhere" (13/28).
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