Shloka 19
Learning and Knowledge — Chanakya Niti
शुनः पुच्छमिव व्यर्थं जीवितं विद्यया विना ।
न गुह्यगोपने शक्तं न च दंशनिवारणे ॥
śunaḥ puccham iva vyarthaṃ jīvitaṃ vidyayā vinā |
na guhyagopane śaktaṃ na ca daṃśanivāraṇe ||
Life without learning is as futile as a dog’s tail: it can neither conceal what should be concealed nor prevent biting.
FAQs
In the broader Nītiśāstra milieu, learning (vidyā) is frequently treated as a foundational social and administrative capacity. The verse reflects a historical ideal in which education is associated with practical competencies valued in courtly and political environments—particularly discretion (the guarding of secrets) and the management of conflict or harm (here conveyed through the image of “biting”).
Vidyā is framed functionally rather than abstractly: it is presented as enabling effective discretion (guhya-gopana) and the mitigation of harm (daṃśa-nivāraṇa). The verse’s logic suggests that, without such knowledge, life is characterized as lacking instrumental efficacy within the social-political world presupposed by Nīti literature.
The simile “śunaḥ puccham iva” (like a dog’s tail) employs a culturally familiar image to convey perceived uselessness. The paired negations—“na ... śaktam ... na ca ...”—create a rhetorical structure of deficiency, while the compounds/phrases “guhya-gopana” (concealing secrets) and “daṃśa-nivāraṇa” (preventing biting) anchor the metaphor in domains of prudence and personal/social safety.