Shloka 18
Learning and Knowledge — Chanakya Niti
गम्यते यदि मृगेन्द्रमन्दिरं लभ्यते करिकपालमौक्तिकम् ।
जम्बुकालयगते च प्राप्यते वत्सपुच्छखरचर्मखण्डनम् ॥
gamyate yadi mṛgendramandiraṃ labhyate karikapālamauktikam |
jambukālayagate ca prāpyate vatsapucchakharmacarmakhaṇḍanam ||
Go to the lion’s dwelling and you may gain a pearl from an elephant’s skull; go to a jackal’s lair and you will find only a scrap of donkey-hide and a calf’s tail.
FAQs
In the subhāṣita and nīti-śāstra tradition, animal abodes and animal-associated valuables function as conventional metaphors for social environments and the relative quality of outcomes associated with them. The contrast between the lion’s sphere and the jackal’s sphere reflects a broader classical tendency to encode hierarchy and aspiration through widely recognizable fauna.
Value is presented through a contrast of objects: a rare and prestigious item (mauktika, a pearl) is associated with the lion’s domain, while low or undesirable remnants (scraps of hide, tail) are associated with the jackal’s domain. The verse frames “reward” as dependent on the status or nature of the place approached.
The compound formations (e.g., mṛgendra-mandira, kari-kapāla-mauktika, jambuka-ālaya-gata, khara-carma-khaṇḍana) are characteristic of Sanskrit aphoristic style, compressing narrative into dense images. Metaphorically, the lion/jackal opposition draws on established cultural associations—lion with power and nobility, jackal with scavenging and marginality—serving as a concise vehicle for social comparison.