[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985) › c13.2 # The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c13.2 The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c13.2 - **Language:** English ### [c13.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985.c13.2) Though these concerns are perfectly valid and even laudable, they have a serious drawback. The past may be immutable, but not so the view we have of the past. The search for legitimation forces the past to answer the needs of the present and prevents the facts from speaking for themselves. Clearly our understanding of Kauṭilya's text was to suffer from the effort to translate the needs of the present in terms of the past. One may deplore that a lot was lost in translation, but it is only fair to observe that at least equal and cer- - [Previous: c13.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985.c13.1) - [Next: c13.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985.c13.3) - [Up: c13](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985.c13) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985.c13.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985.c13.2) · Pramāṇa