CHAPTER 5, TEXT 18: The humble sages, by virtue of true knowledge, see with equal vision a learned and gentle brāhmaṇa, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater [outcaste].
The eyes are the windows to the soul.
Then with our eyes and with our own soul, let's look into the eyes of those beings who Krishna mentions in this verse (for a dog-eater I put a picture of a criminal, which is a modern equivalent of an outcaste).
Regardless of body, the soul shines forth. Go ahead, look again at the criminal, look past the tattoos and into his eyes - you can see, the soul is there.
To acknowledge the spirit soul that resides within all beings - not only human beings - is the foundation of any true knowledge.
America's founding credo is: "All men are created equal." Krishna is emphasizing, though, that that equality is based upon the equality of the soul, not the body.
So this would include that all men and women are created equal.
All races are created equal.
The eyes.
The eyes have it.
But other living beings also have eyes. Prabhupad writes: "A Kṛṣṇa conscious person does not make any distinction between species or castes [social standing]." So if we do not make a distinction between species, how about dogs? Dogs are mentioned in this verse as having a soul. Dogs are capable of love and affection, and any dog lover would agree most emphatically with Krishna that yes, dogs have souls.
So any cat lover (my sister included) would make the same proclamation: cats have souls.
So then what about OTHER animals??
To acknowledge the soul within all living beings is revolutionary consciousness.
Prabhupad writes: "The brāhmaṇa and the outcaste may be different from the social point of view, or a dog, a cow and an elephant may be different from the point of view of species, but these differences of body are meaningless from the viewpoint of a learned transcendentalist." Of course there are material differences between all of the pictured living beings in this post - these pictures offer barely give a glimpse into the diversity of bodies of living beings on this planet. But if we scroll through and really take time to look into their eyes, we can feel something tingle in our mind and our soul, a sense of recognition: a soul is here.
Even in a fish.
On the deepest level, those differences of body become truly become meaningless.
In fact, "The bodies are material productions of different modes of material nature, but the soul and the Supersoul within the body are of the same spiritual quality." At the core, we are all eternal spirit souls who have a relationship with God and each other. In this sense, our equality "is due to [our] relationship to the Supreme, for the Supreme Lord, by His plenary portion as Paramātmā, is present in everyone’s heart." This means that within the heart of each and every living being - from the President of the United States to the goldfish - God is there, witnessing every action and accompanying us at every moment.
If we can imbibe this "true knowledge" and disregard the social differences and the differences of species, how should we behave towards other living beings?
The first word that comes to me is respect.
For differences of species, maybe I do not give dogs and turtles the right to vote, or make a spider my companion, but if God is within every living being, surely I can offer respect. I can respect the gift of life within every living being and not take it away for my pleasure or convenience. That's a start.
For living beings with social differences, such as human beings, sometimes this is the hardest. I get caught up in the differences - the eye color, the hair color, the face shape, the body shape, the culture, the language, the dress, etc. Compared to how I may sympathize with and respect a sweet dog, it may be almost easier to categorize a human of a different race and culture as "other" and thus "bad" or "inferior" and refuse to offer my respect. So on the basis of recognizing and respecting another's soul and not just their body is the way that a learned transcendentalist behaves.
Ultimately, "the Lord is equally kind to everyone because He treats every living being as a friend yet maintains Himself as Paramātmā regardless of the circumstances of the living entities." At the core, the Lord is a friend to all. He treats everyone equally, regardless of social standing or species. We are all spirit souls.
True knowledge means to see with this equal vision. I've touched on living beings with eyes in this blog post, but there are billions of living beings that do not have discernible or sympathetic eyes, such as sea sponges and trees. But let's start with eyes. Let's look into the window of another being's soul, let's look into their eyes, and acknowledge that the soul is there, God is there.
True wisdom begins there.
Full purport for Chapter 5, Text 18 by Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad here: https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/18/
The eyes are the windows to the soul.
Then with our eyes and with our own soul, let's look into the eyes of those beings who Krishna mentions in this verse (for a dog-eater I put a picture of a criminal, which is a modern equivalent of an outcaste).
gentle brahmana
cow
dog
elephant
outcaste
Regardless of body, the soul shines forth. Go ahead, look again at the criminal, look past the tattoos and into his eyes - you can see, the soul is there.
To acknowledge the spirit soul that resides within all beings - not only human beings - is the foundation of any true knowledge.
America's founding credo is: "All men are created equal." Krishna is emphasizing, though, that that equality is based upon the equality of the soul, not the body.
So this would include that all men and women are created equal.
The eyes have it.
But other living beings also have eyes. Prabhupad writes: "A Kṛṣṇa conscious person does not make any distinction between species or castes [social standing]." So if we do not make a distinction between species, how about dogs? Dogs are mentioned in this verse as having a soul. Dogs are capable of love and affection, and any dog lover would agree most emphatically with Krishna that yes, dogs have souls.
So any cat lover (my sister included) would make the same proclamation: cats have souls.
So then what about OTHER animals??
Prabhupad writes: "The brāhmaṇa and the outcaste may be different from the social point of view, or a dog, a cow and an elephant may be different from the point of view of species, but these differences of body are meaningless from the viewpoint of a learned transcendentalist." Of course there are material differences between all of the pictured living beings in this post - these pictures offer barely give a glimpse into the diversity of bodies of living beings on this planet. But if we scroll through and really take time to look into their eyes, we can feel something tingle in our mind and our soul, a sense of recognition: a soul is here.
Even in a fish.
On the deepest level, those differences of body become truly become meaningless.
In fact, "The bodies are material productions of different modes of material nature, but the soul and the Supersoul within the body are of the same spiritual quality." At the core, we are all eternal spirit souls who have a relationship with God and each other. In this sense, our equality "is due to [our] relationship to the Supreme, for the Supreme Lord, by His plenary portion as Paramātmā, is present in everyone’s heart." This means that within the heart of each and every living being - from the President of the United States to the goldfish - God is there, witnessing every action and accompanying us at every moment.
If we can imbibe this "true knowledge" and disregard the social differences and the differences of species, how should we behave towards other living beings?
The first word that comes to me is respect.
For differences of species, maybe I do not give dogs and turtles the right to vote, or make a spider my companion, but if God is within every living being, surely I can offer respect. I can respect the gift of life within every living being and not take it away for my pleasure or convenience. That's a start.
For living beings with social differences, such as human beings, sometimes this is the hardest. I get caught up in the differences - the eye color, the hair color, the face shape, the body shape, the culture, the language, the dress, etc. Compared to how I may sympathize with and respect a sweet dog, it may be almost easier to categorize a human of a different race and culture as "other" and thus "bad" or "inferior" and refuse to offer my respect. So on the basis of recognizing and respecting another's soul and not just their body is the way that a learned transcendentalist behaves.
Ultimately, "the Lord is equally kind to everyone because He treats every living being as a friend yet maintains Himself as Paramātmā regardless of the circumstances of the living entities." At the core, the Lord is a friend to all. He treats everyone equally, regardless of social standing or species. We are all spirit souls.
True knowledge means to see with this equal vision. I've touched on living beings with eyes in this blog post, but there are billions of living beings that do not have discernible or sympathetic eyes, such as sea sponges and trees. But let's start with eyes. Let's look into the window of another being's soul, let's look into their eyes, and acknowledge that the soul is there, God is there.
True wisdom begins there.
Full purport for Chapter 5, Text 18 by Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad here: https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/18/
On my birthday, March 28th, beloved Bhakti has written such a wonderful work of wisdom. During my 13 years as a hospice chaplain, So Many Times I indeed Saw that 'the eyes are the windows of the soul.' Past all coverings of color and culture, of health and illness, of life forms and species, the soul shines bright when we can look into one's eyes with equanimity and without judgment. Thank you my dear friend, Bhakti, for reminding me of this great and profound mystery.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your beautiful comment and for appreciating this post with your heart and soul. Sending you warm wishes in your work as a chaplain, praying you're ever more of service.
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