A declaration · expansive in mood · builds on earlier teachings
“Real wisdom erases rank and reveals sameness.”
The wise see the same reality in a learned, humble brahmin, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and an outcaste.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Hover a word to focus on it.
Read literallyendowed with learning and humility · in a brahmin · in a cow · in an elephant · in a dog · and · indeed · in an outcaste · and · the wise · equal-seeing
A truly wise person does not rank living beings by status, species, or social position. The same reality is seen in all of them.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Karma Sanyasa Yoga" (The Yoga of Renunciation).
Verse 18 sits in Chapter 5 of the Bhagavad Gita — Karma Sanyasa Yoga, "The Yoga of Renunciation". The chapter has 29 verses in total.
You walk past a hospital corridor, a luxury lobby, and a street corner in the same hour. The outer labels change fast; this verse asks whether your seeing changes at all.
Did you like this verse?
It shifts the mind from status-based judgment to equal vision across all forms of life.
What this verse means
A truly wise person does not rank living beings by status, species, or social position. The same reality is seen in all of them.
Context & commentary
On the battlefield, Krishna is still answering Arjuna's collapse. After teaching the clear vision of the true self, he shows what that vision looks like in daily perception: a wise person sees the same reality in a learned brahmin, an animal, and someone society rejects.
Why this verse still matters
You walk past a hospital corridor, a luxury lobby, and a street corner in the same hour. The outer labels change fast; this verse asks whether your seeing changes at all.
“Respect becomes effortless when you stop sorting beings into higher and lower.”