विद्याविनयसम्पन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि | शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिता: समदर्शिन: || 18 || |
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“The truly learned and humble person, with the eyes of divine knowledge, sees a Brahmin, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and an outcaste with equal vision”
Commentary :
One who has earned divine education and learnt humility, can see that the essence in and of everything is the same. The blueprint is the same and the substance that makes the blueprint is also the same. The sage does not identify himself with his body or mind. He feels his nature as an indivisible, infinite consciousness that is present in everyone. There is a thin but a strong layer separating the Spirit from Maya.
Once there was a robber whose name was Ratnākara. He looted and killed several people to get money in order to support his family. One day a saint asked him to deny himself the small pleasures and rob the entire universe. The robber sat in meditation as taught by the saint and began to identify himself not with the small possessions of body, house, gold and family but as the owner of a body as big as the universe with all its treasures and powers. He denied every ignoble desire of the person called Ratnākara and ultimately became the saint we all know as Vālmiki. Our body and mind that we refer to as ‘I’, ‘me’, ‘my’ with the name that has been given at birth, are imperfect instruments that need to be sharpened with purity and love. Once the identity transfers from outer surface to the inner spirit, then all things, animals and people will look the same – made of the same substance with a strong imprint of individual consciousness.