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Rajadharma in Mahabh...
Rajadharma in Mahabharata
With Special Reference to Shanti-Parva by: Priyanka PandeyThis book deals with all aspects of politics based on Mahabharata and addresses topics such as dandaniti, origin of state, the seven elements of state, functions of state, types of state, kinship, judiciary and administration in detail, among many other issues of political importance.
$36.00
ISBN: 9788124608012
Year Of Publication: 2018
Edition: 1st
Pages : xx, 245
Bibliographic Details : Bibliography, Index
Language : English
Binding : Hardcover
Publisher: D.K. Printworld Pvt. Ltd.
Size: 23
Weight: 550
The idea of politics hardly finds an expression elsewhere as clearly as in Mahabharata. This work thus investigates the political thought explicit in Shanti-Parva and emphasizes that Mahabharata is a text in the study of politics, apart from the perception of it being a great epic and a text of high literary value. Whatever be the notion of politics we contemplate upon, it finds an articulation in Mahabharata. As the Greek tradition of thinking is the base of Western politics, Shanti-Parva of Mahabharata represents the Indian notion of political thinking, though there remain many similarities and dissimilarities between the two systems.
This volume navigates one to how to read Mahabharata as a political text; the idea of political thoughts, the constituting principles of politics and the political institutions in Shanti-Parva; and the relevance of these political thoughts in modern time. Topics such as dandaniti, origin of state, the seven elements of state, functions of state, types of state, kinship, judiciary and administration are discussed in detail, among many other issues of political importance.
The book collects, analyses and examines the internal evidences from Shanti-Parva and also from other parvans of Mahabharata to reach a decisive conclusion, making the work a composite result of textual analysis, related literature and subjective contemplation. It clearly shows that the idea of politics is not separated from the idea of ethics. Rather they are intertwined.
Preface
List of Tables and Figures
Map of Bharatavarsha in the Mahabharata period
Abbreviations
Transliteration Key
Acknowledgements
1. Mahabharata : An Introduction
Authorship of Mahabharata
Date of Mahabharata
Contents in Mahabharata
Commentators on Mahabharata
Important Sanskrit Recensions and Editions of Mahabharata
Mahabharata in Other Indian Languages
Shanti-Parva of Mahabharata
2. Politics in Western Tradition
Theoretical Aspect
Stages in Development of the State
Practical Aspect: Political Institutions
3. Political Ideas in Shanti-Parva
The Background
Da??an?ti
N?ti???stra
Artha???stra
R?jya???stra
R?jan?ti
R?jadharma
Political Ideas in ???nti-Parva
4. Interstate Relations and Forms of Government
Interstate Relations
Concept of Ma??ala in ???nti-Parva
Classification of States and Six Expedients of Foreign Policy
The Fourfold Foreign Policy
Types and Forms of Government
Conclusion
5. Judiciary and Ethical Concepts
Judiciary
Orgainzations of Judiciary
Ethical Concepts
Varying Interpretation of Dharma
6. Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
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Science and Spirituality $40.00
A dialogue between science and spirituality is a necessity in our times where both, differences and mutual enrichment of the two great fields of human approach to reality, are taking place. This volume addresses this need from the perspective of different areas of science and spiritual traditions. The starting point is the intention of the founder of the IIAS, Dr S. Radhakrishnan, who saw that “both the practice of science and experience of spirituality are intimately related to being human”. Although much thought has gone into their relationship, the present volume intends to broaden and deepen the possibility of a harmonious integration, necessary to overcome the present-day crisis of humanity.
From the side of science, the contributors come from the fields of physics, plant biology, neuroscience, psychology, ecology and philosophy of science; and from the side of spirituality, following traditions and spiritual masters are represented: PÀtaðjala Yoga, Trika Œaivism of Kashmir, VedÀnta, Buddhism, Christianity, Theosophy, and Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda and J. Krishnamurti. The deliberations included topics such as Awareness in plants, Neuroplasticity and Habit, appropriate use of terms such as “Consciousness” and “Energy” in different contexts, clarifying several issues concerning the on-going dialogue. The contributing scholars have built “bridges of understanding”, thus encouraging the reader to proceed further in this quest. -
Reflections on Indian Thought $34.00
This anthology, consisting of fourteen essays, deals with a variety of themes that are of central importance for an authentic appreciation of the philosophical core of the Indian culture. The readers will find here illuminating discussions on various issues that bear witness to the critical thinking and deep reflection on the part of the author that have enabled her to carefully expose the subtle internal divergences that nourish the Indian conceptual world.
Based on arduous and painstaking research, these essays focus on a range of topics. There are several essays on multiple aspects of the large themes of time and consciousness, penetrating analysis showing how in the ancient discourse ideas of klesha (affliction), abhyasa (practice) and karuna (compassion) as well as on women and values are dealt with. There are also deliberations on the themes of religious diversity and the need for an encounter of world religions along with the attempt to explore India’s self-image. All these have contemporary relevance, as these essays clearly bring out the distinctive character of a living culture. -
First Five Brahmasūtras (विज्ञानभिक्षोः ब्रह्मसूत्रपञ्चचसूत्रीभाष्यम्) $40.00
This is an annotated English translation of Vijñānabhikṣu’s commentaries on the first five Brahmasūtra (BS) of Bādarāyaṇa called the Vijñānāmṛtabhāṣya (VijBh). This is a pioneering work as no translation of the VijBh has been done so far. Bhikṣu is perhaps the only known Vedānta scholar who has argued for Brahman along with his prakṛti-śakti being the cause of the world. He calls his Advaita philosophy as Avibhāga-Advaita and sets himself against Śaṅkara’s Advaita which argues for Brahman alone being the material and efficient cause of the world. Bhikṣu is also an unique Advaita scholar as he interprets Vedānta using Sāṁkhya/Yoga principles. One of the reasons for choosing to comment on only the first five sūtras was because the VijBh is a huge work and also because Bhikṣu’s Avibhāga-Advaita can easily be understood from his commentaries on these first five sūtras of the BS. Even though the real reason for Bhikṣu’s commentary on the fifth sūtra (BS I.1.5) should be clear to anyone familiar with Vedānta’s objection to prakṛti being the cause of the world, it needed to be seen as to how Bhikṣu, as a committed Sāṁkhya-Yoga-Vedāntācārya, defends prakṛti’s role in being the cause. Just as writing commentaries on the first four sūtras of Śaṅkara’s BSBh done by some eminent scholars present the main features of Śaṅkara’s Advaita, the commentaries on the first five sūtras of the BS by Bhikṣu could adequately present Bhikṣu’s Avibhāga-Advaita Vedānta.
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Journey to the Centre of my Being $12.00
Jim Wilson is an adventurer: mountaineering; Antarctic exploration; adventure films with Sir Edmund Hillary (on one of which he drove a jet boat up Mother Ganga from ocean to sky); climbing and school building with Sir Edmund in the Everest region of Nepal; and sailing to Pacific islands in a small yacht. These physical adventures provide an exciting backdrop to this book.
But Jim is also a religious adventurer. He relates in depth, with clarity and humour, his long journey in search of a satisfying way of understanding and experiencing the true nature of his self, and of his place in this mysterious universe. Studying Western philosophy and theology moved him away from intense involvement in the liberal Christianity of his parents. So he looked to India, inexhaustible source of inspiration. For two years he studied Indian philosophy and religion at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. Then he taught for 23 years in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, returning many times to India and Nepal.
Though profoundly moved by the religions he studied and taught about, he was unable to accept the metaphysical beliefs underpinning them. Increasingly, though, he became fascinated by modern scientific discoveries about the universe, and about our planet and the evolution of life on it. So he wove together elements from religious and scientific traditions. In particular, he took Adi Shankara’s Advaita, also known as spiritual monism, and applied it to the physical universe, adding in also feelings and attitudes from New Zealand’s indigenous Maori religion. He now believes that the centre of his being is the physical energy of the universe, with which, therefore, he is at one. He finds this deeply satisfying in understanding, and emotionally and morally experiencing, his place on this planet and in the universe. Because it owes so much to spiritual monism he calls it physical monism, or physical Advaita. -
Kundalini $24.00
“Tantra, an exposition of Sri-vidya, is a thread of Vedic tantu. This ray of the light of consciousness folds upon itself as a coil (kundala) forming the coiled energies of the conscious universe, thus becoming kundalini.
This book looks at Tantra from a different perspective against the common view of it being more associated with its carnal/sexual nature. Tantra is the “art of celibacy”. Human beings are a wave in the ocean of Consciousness and this wave passes through our psycho-physiological complex compound, forming the personal kundalini. All sensations in human body are manifestations of the presence of kuõóalinã. Our desires are the signals released by the kundalini. Different psycho-physical apparatuses are plugged into it like electric plugs in different socket.
This volume, while portraying kundalini from its psycho-physical and spiritual implications and impacts, tries to alleviate some misconceptions about the nature of cakras — the consciousness centres. It deals at length with the phenomena of higher levels of spiritual evolution — “raising the kundalini” and “opening the cakras” — helping one drop all mental habit patterns to achieve “liberation”.
This book is a “must read” for the practitioners of Yoga and all who want to take their spiritual life to a new realm. “
