<b>About The Book</b><br />The idea of politics hardly finds an expression elsewhere as clearly as in Maha¯bha¯rata. This work thus investigates the political thought explicit in S´a¯nti-Parva and emphasizes that Maha¯bha¯rata 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 Maha¯bha¯rata. As the Greek tradition of thinking is the base of Western politics, S´a¯nti-Parva of Maha¯bha¯rata represents the Indian notion of political thinking, though there remain many similarities and dissimilarities between the two systems.<br />This volume navigates one to how to read Maha¯bha¯rata as a political text; the idea of political thoughts, the constituting principles of politics and the political institutions in S´a¯nti-Parva; and the relevance of these political thoughts in modern time. Topics such as dan?d?ani¯ti, 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.<br />The book collects, analyses and examines the internal evidences from S´a¯nti-Parva and also from other parvans of Maha¯bha¯rata 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.<br /><br /><b>About the Author</b><br />Dr Priyanka Pandey is an upcoming Sanskrit scholar with a penchant for serious researches on Indian classics. She got her PhD for the thesis, &ldquo;Perspectives of Ra¯jadharma in Maha¯bha¯rata: A Critical Analysis&rdquo; from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. This book Ra¯jadharma in Maha¯bha¯rata with Special Reference to S´a¯nti-Parva is an offshoot of her research project.<br />Dr Pandey has presented articles in many national and international seminars and has ten articles published in journals/books of repute to her credit.