Shloka 8
Learning and Knowledge — Chanakya Niti
हस्ती अङ्कुशमात्रेण वाजी हस्तेन ताड्यते ।
शृङ्गी लगुडहस्तेन खड्गहस्तेन दुर्जनः ॥
hastī aṅkuśamātreṇa vājī hastena tāḍyate |
śṛṅgī laguḍahastena khaḍgahastena durjanaḥ ||
An elephant is guided by a mere goad; a horse is corrected by the hand; a horned beast is controlled by a staff in hand; but a wicked man is restrained by a sword in hand.
FAQs
In the nītiśāstra tradition, didactic verses frequently classify beings and social types through analogies drawn from royal and agrarian life (e.g., elephants, horses, weapons). This shloka reflects a historical discourse in which governance and social order are imagined through graded forms of restraint, consistent with broader South Asian political thought that discusses daṇḍa (punishment/force) as an instrument of rule.
The verse presents coercion as differentiated by the perceived nature of the subject: minimal implements for trained animals (goad for elephant), escalating to more forceful instruments, culminating in the metaphor of a sword for the durjana. In archival terms, it documents a traditional view that certain persons are conceptualized as requiring stronger deterrence, rather than offering a universally applicable ethical rule.
The construction uses instrumental compounds (aṅkuśa-mātreṇa, laguḍa-hastena, khaḍga-hastena) to foreground the means of control. The progression from animal training tools to weapons intensifies the imagery, and the term durjana functions as a moral-social category common in Sanskrit gnomic literature, enabling a contrast between manageable creatures and socially disruptive individuals.