Seeing the radiant face of Ma Anandamayi and hearing her laughter you guess that she is an incarnation of Joy. Touched by the caress of Her glance you know that her heart is overflowing with love for all beings. Listening to Her teaching so simple and clear you understand that She is in possession of all Wisdom. But one cannot say whether it is Joy, Love or Wisdom that is the source of all this for with Her all therr are inextricably and indissolubly mingled one coluld not exist without the others. The joy which Ma anandmayi lives is not that which we know in worldly life, where pleasure and pain, hope, regret and disillusionment, attraction and repulsion follow on each other's heels, born one of another. Nor is it an egocentric calm of stoic rigidity that erects around itself an rampart of indifference. Hers is an overflowing, irrepressible joy that expresses itself in gaiety, that knows no obstacles, because it is deeply rooted in the Absolute, beyond the dualities of good and evil, of 'I' and 'not-I', of pleasant and unpleasant, because its unshakable base is Love and Wisdom.

The earlier chapters of the present volume deal with a large number of topics relating to kingship, landlordism (sometimes mistaken feudalism), tenancy, royal charters. Panchayat system, etc. Some of the following chapters contain discussion on certain royal officers (also continued in one of the appendices), the function of some of them or their department.

The Present Book In 2 Volumes Is A Collection Of 62 Articles On Ancient India From The Indian Historical Quarterly Journal.

How did different parts of the Indian subcontinent interact throughout its ancient history? This book presents a new approach for understanding the political history of ancient India. It underlines how politics was enacted in various geographical orbits that kept interacting throughout the period without any fixed boundary or 'divide'. Dilip K. Chakrabarti closely examines the focal geographical points along which ancient Indian dynasties tried to expand their political power and interact with other contemporary dynasties. The author highlights the range of geographical possibilities of the regional power centres of various periods in ancient India. He also underlines the extent to which they operated within that frame. The Geopolitical Orbits of Ancient India argues that the web of inter-regional interaction was not limited to a particular set of regions but had a pan-Indian ramification. None of the regions could therefore thrive in political isolation. It underscores that regions in ancient Indian history never had any immutable historical shape or identity but were fluid, both in their interactions and outlines.