Shloka 15
Ethics of Action — Chanakya Niti
गुणो भूषयते रूपं शीलं भूषयते कुलम् ।
प्रासादशिखरस्थोऽपि काकः किं गरुडायते ॥
guṇo bhūṣayate rūpaṃ śīlaṃ bhūṣayate kulam |
prāsādaśikhara-stho 'pi kākaḥ kiṃ garuḍāyate ||
Virtue adorns beauty; good conduct adorns lineage. Even if a crow stands on a palace peak, it does not become Garuḍa.
FAQs
Within the broader Nītiśāstra milieu, the verse reflects a premodern South Asian discourse that ranked ethical qualities and reputation above mere external status. Such aphorisms circulated in courtly and pedagogical settings, where lineage, comportment, and perceived merit were discussed as social capital in administrative and elite environments.
The verse frames “guṇa” (personal qualities) and “śīla” (conduct) as the primary markers that confer social and aesthetic ‘ornamentation,’ while treating elevated location or display (symbolized by a palace summit) as insufficient to change inherent nature (symbolized by the crow remaining distinct from Garuḍa).
The rhetorical question “kākaḥ kiṃ garuḍāyate” uses contrastive animal imagery: the crow, a common figure for ordinariness, is juxtaposed with Garuḍa, a prestigious mythic bird associated with power and divine symbolism. The denominative verb “garuḍāyate” (“to become like Garuḍa”) intensifies the metaphor by treating transformation into a higher archetype as linguistically possible but pragmatically denied by the verse.