We show that if a universal theory is not monadically NIP, then this is witnessed by a canonical configuration defined by an existential formula. As a consequence, we show that a hereditary class of relational structures is NIP (resp. stable) if and only if it is monadically NIP (resp. monadically stable). As another consequence, we show that if such a class is not monadically NIP, then it has superexponential growth rate.