Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 5, Verse 18

विद्याविनयसम्पन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि । शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः

vidyāvinayasampanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini | śuni caiva śvapāke ca paṇḍitāḥ samadarśinaḥ

Translation

In a Brāhmaṇa endued with wisdom and humility, in a cow, in an elephant, as also in a dog and in a dog-eater, the wise see the same.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

vidyāvinayasampanne

with learning, and, with modesty, and, (in) endowed

brāhmaṇe

in (on a) Brāhmaṇa

gavi

in (on a) cow

hastini

in (on an) elephant

śuni

in (on a) dog

ca

and

eva

even

śvapāke

in (on an) outcaste

ca

and

paṇḍitāḥ

pandits

samadarśinaḥ

equal-seeing

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

Humility is tranquillity, the condition of a well-disciplined soul. Of the creatures mentioned, the highest is the brāhmaṇa who is spiritually regenerated and highly Sāttvic. Next comes the cow, Rājasic. Last come the elephant, etc., which are purely Tāmasic. In all of them the sages see the same, the One who is immutable in Himself and quite untouched by Sattva and other energies, or by the tendencies born of those energies, whether Sāttvic, Rājasic, or Tāmasic.