Shrimad Bhagavad-gita

by Narayana Gosvami | 2013 | 327,105 words

The Bhagavad-gita Verse 5.18, English translation, including the Vaishnava commentaries Sarartha-varsini-tika, Prakashika-vritti and Rasika-ranjana (excerpts). This is verse 18 from the chapter 5 called “Karma-sannyasa-yoga (Yoga through Renunciation of Action)”

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 5.18:

विद्या-विनय-सम्पन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि ।
शुनि चैव श्व-पाके च पण्डिताः सम-दर्शिनः ॥ १८ ॥

vidyā-vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini |
śuni caiva śva-pāke ca paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ || 18 ||

vidyā-vinaya-sampanne–equipped with knowledge and gentle qualities; brāhmaṇe–within a brāhmaṇa; gavi–in a cow; hastini–in an elephant; śuni–in a dog; ca–and; eva–indeed; śva-pāke–in a dog-eater; ca–and; paṇḍitāḥ–the enlightened (jñānīs);sama-darśinaḥ–have equal vision of the soul.

Enlightened persons (jñānīs) perceive with equal vision a gentle and learned brāhmaṇa, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog eater.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

The wise, who are extremely devoted to Parameśvara, as mentioned in the previous verse, then transcend the material modes, becoming disinterested in accepting those modes, which exist in every entity to varying degrees. In this way they become equipoised. To explain this, Śrī Bhagavān is speaking this verse beginning with vidyā-vinaya. A cow and a brāhmaṇa are said to be in the mode of goodness and are thus superior to the elephant, which is in the mode of passion. They are also superior to a dog and a dog-eater, which are in the mode of ignorance. But learned persons who have transcended the modes of nature do not notice such differences. Rather, they see spirit (brahma), which exists beyond these three modes of nature, everywhere. They are known as sama-darśī, those with equal vision.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

The vision of the wise jñānī is being explained in the above verse. Here the word sama-darśīḥ means ‘to see that in every material body, Bhagavān’s marginal potency, the taṭasthā-śakti, has manifested as a jīva with a specific eternal form and nature’. Only they who perceive the self in this way are known as sama-darśī.

Bhagavān has clarified this further in the Gītā (6.32) and it is described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.29.14):

brāhmaṇe pukkase stene brahmaṇye’rke sphuliṅgake
akrūre krūrake caiva sama-dṛk paṇḍito mataḥ

In My opinion, one who sees with equal vision a brāhmaṇa and a caṇḍāla, a thief, a devotee of the Supreme, the sun rays, the sparks of a fire, a cruel person and a kind person, is wise.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura explains sama-dṛk to mean ‘realizing the eternal existence of Me, Parabrahma, in every living entity’. One who has such a vision is called sama-darśī.

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