A History of Hindu Political Theories from the Earliest Times to the End of the First Quarter of the Seventeenth Century A.D. c3.3

c3.3

Next to the urgency of treating Hindu political thought on historical principles may be mentioned the necessity of precise analysis of its leading tenets. Principally because of the paucity and obscurity of the literary material, there has been in this case the danger of reading modern ideas into the old texts, or at least stretching their meaning to a degree unwarranted by the evidence. It has been the author’s aim to avoid these pitfalls, and confine himself as far as possible to an objective interpretation of his subject. This has involved the discussion of the exact signification of such technical terms as *prakriti* and *danda*, and has led to the consideration of such current views as those crediting the Hindus with the notion of popular sovereignty and the like.