Verse 5.18
विद्याविनयसम्पन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि ।
शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः ॥
Transliteration
vidyāvinayasampanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini |
śuni caiva śvapāke ca paṇḍitāḥ samadarśinaḥ ||
By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · @indic-transliteration/sanscript 1.3.3
Translation
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.
From the owner's sheet · +1 more
The wise see with an equal eye a brahmin endowed with learning and humility, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and an outcaste.
By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08 · +1 more
Word by word
By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08
Explanation
This verse describes samadarśana, equal vision. The wise look with the same eye on a learned and humble brahmin, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a śvapāka, a term for those placed at the lowest margin of society in that age. The list deliberately spans the most honoured and the most excluded, humans and animals alike. The equality meant here is seeing the same self or the same divine presence in all, not ignoring practical differences. Many readers take it as a strong ethical challenge to judging worth by birth or status.
By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08