SAUNDARANANDA 1.13:The Strict Discipline of the Forest

api kShudra-mRgaa yatra
shaantaash ceruH samaM mRgaiH
sharaNyebhyas tapasvibhyo
vinayaM shikShitaa iva

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1.13
Even animals down the forest food chain

Moved there in the same subdued manner as the stags,

As if from their ascetic protectors

They had learned the rules of discipline.

COMMENT:
Badgers, foxes, bunny rabbits, and muntjac deer are tip-toeing through the ashram ever so quietly and carefully, looking like conscientious Zen practitioners or zealous devotees of the FM Alexander Technique.

Meanwhile, Ashvaghosha might be practically bursting with unbridled belly laughter.

Ashvaghosha -- poet or proselytizer? academics ask, never having seen him in a dream.

Ashvaghosha was a tiger in its natural element, at the very top of the food chain. He mauled ascetic stags for breakfast.

EH Johnston:
Even the beasts of prey roamed quietly there with the deer, as if they had studied the rules of the holy life under the ascetics with whom they had taken refuge.

Linda Covill:
Here even the smaller animals roamed peaceably alongside the deer, as though they had learned discipline from the ascetics who gave them shelter.

VOCABULARY:
api: also, even
kShudra-mRgaaH (nom. pl. m.): small game, small deer, animals lower down the food chain
kShudra: mfn. minute , diminutive , tiny , very small , little , trifling ; mean , low , vile
mRga: m. (prob. " ranger " , " rover ") a forest animal or wild beast , game of any kind , (esp.) a deer , fawn , gazelle , antelope , stag , musk-deer
yatra: where

shaantaaH (nom. pl. m.): mfn. pacified , tranquil , calm, undisturbed , inhibited ,
ceruH = 3rd pers. pl. perfect car: to move one's self , go , walk , move , stir , roam about
samam: ind. in like manner , alike , equally , similarly ; together with
mRgaiH (inst. pl.): the deer, stags

sharaNyebhyaH = abl. pl. sharaNya: mfn. affording shelter , yielding help or protection to (gen. or comp.); n. who or what affords protection or defence
tapasvibhyaH = abl. pl. tapasvin: mfn. practising austerities ; m. an ascetic

vinayam (acc. sg.): m. leading , guidance , training (esp. moral training) , education , discipline , control ; m. (with Buddhists) the rules of discipline for monks
shikShitaaH (nom pl. m.): mfn. mfn. learnt , studied , practised; taught , instructed or trained or exercised in (acc. loc. , or comp.)
√ shikSh: to learn , acquire knowledge , study , practise , learn from (abl.)
iva: like, as if