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Chaturvedi Badrinath (19332010), a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award, 2009, for his work The Mahabharata: An Inquiry in the Human Condition, was a passionate scholar of Indian philosophy, strikingly original in his approach. An Indian Administrative Service officer for 31 years, he delivered lectures on the concept of dharma and its application in modern times for which he drew extensively from the Mahabharata. In 1995, he was invited by The Times of India to contribute essays on Indian philosophy and thought. In the form of lucid discourses for the layperson, these dealt with dharma as the foundation of civilization. Ranging over perceptions of the self and the other; different ways of ordering society in Jainism, Islam, and Christianity; the paradox of sex; the roots of violence; and the quest for truth and peace, these essays gained wide acclaim and popularity. Badrinath’s daughter, Tulsi Badrinath, brings these essays together to present the reader with a book that explains the complex ideas of Indian philosophy in simple and accessible language.

Contents: Introduction. 1. Towards a world of freedom. 2. The right perception of self-interest. 3. State must free the mind from fear. 4. Fear as the basis of social order. 5. Dharma and Jainism: foundations of human rights. 6. Human freedom and rights: western framework of thought. 7. Truth in Jainism: universal foundation of rights. 8. The Dharmic law: institutional protection of rights. 9. The Dharmic state: protection of weak and oppressed. 10. The caring state: foundations of social happiness. 11. The caring state: strong but never oppressive. 12. Government governs in place of law. 13. Unity of life: dharma and essence of Islam. 14. Dharma and Islam-I: ‘justice with truth, truth with goodness’. 15. Dharma and Islam-II: ‘let there be no compulsion in religion’. 16. The Supreme Court-I: advancing law for judicial control. 17. The Supreme Court-II: ‘judicial activism’- a mindless term. 18. To have or to be-I: Sick systems, sick human beings. 19. To have or to be-II: Both-within innate human wholeness. 20. Unity of life: the spiritual and the material. 21. Personal and social health: ‘not-grasping’ in Jainism. 22. The paradox of sex-I: Foundations of sexual happiness. 23. The paradox of sex—II: A-parigraha as sexual happiness. 24. The human condition: Philosophy as the romance of life. 25. Learning to live: freedom from fear of death. 26. The roots of violence-I: Jainism as freedom from fear. 27. The roots of violence-II: Jainism towards human freedom. 28. The love of violence-I: Happiness has no literature. 29. The love of violence-II: Happiness inspires creativity. 30. The power of mind-I: Invoking the joy of life. 31. The power of mind-II: Dancing in the rock’s interior. 32. Power of perception: Where mind is free from sorrow. 33. The karma conundrum: decoding the direction of destiny. 34. Jainism and relativity: Syada-Vada in Einstein and Bohr. 35. Beyond either/or: towards truth and peace.