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 ||
象は鉤（アンクシャ）一つで御し、馬は手で打って従わせる。角ある獣は杖で制し、悪人は剣を手にして抑える。
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.