{"id":1049,"date":"2026-08-09T18:46:01","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T13:16:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/pyq\/explain-the-sources-of-ancient-indian-political-thought-upsc-psir-2020-1003\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T21:23:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T15:53:35","slug":"explain-the-sources-of-ancient-indian-political-thought-upsc-psir-2020-1003","status":"publish","type":"psir_pyq","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/psir-pyq\/explain-the-sources-of-ancient-indian-political-thought-upsc-psir-2020-1003\/","title":{"rendered":"Explain the sources of ancient Indian political thought."},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pq-flow\">\n<div class=\"pq-flow-h\">Flow snapshot <em>\u2014 how the answer moves<\/em><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-fb\">\n<div class=\"pq-pill p1\"><span>Intro routes<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-ft\">\n<p class=\"pq-r\"><i class=\"pq-rt\">Route 1<\/i> no single treatise <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> thought scattered across genres <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> embedded in <i>dharma<\/i> \/ <i>danda<\/i> \/ kingship<\/p>\n<p class=\"pq-r\"><i class=\"pq-rt\">Route 2<\/i> <b class=\"pq-sc\">Mahendra Prasad Singh<\/b> <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> religion, morality, sages as sources <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> ideas gathered, not found in one text<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-fb\">\n<div class=\"pq-pill p2\"><span>Body flow<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-ft\">\n<p><i>Vedas<\/i> + <i>Upanishads<\/i> (<i>rajan<\/i>, <i>sabha\/samiti<\/i>, <i>dharma<\/i> as inner law) <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> Epics (<i>Mahabharata\/Shantiparva<\/i>: <i>rajadharma<\/i>, <i>dandaniti<\/i>, origin of state; <i>Ramayana<\/i>: <i>Rama-rajya<\/i>) <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> <i>Dharmasutras\/Dharmashastras\/Smritis<\/i> (<i>Manusmriti<\/i>, <b class=\"pq-sc\">Manu<\/b> = first law-giver: <i>varna<\/i>, <i>ashrama<\/i>, <i>rajadharma<\/i>) <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> <i>Arthashastra<\/i> (<b class=\"pq-sc\">Kautilya<\/b>: realist statecraft \u2014 admin, tax, diplomacy, war) <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> Buddhist + Jain (<i>Jatakas<\/i>, <i>Mahasammat<\/i>, <b class=\"pq-sc\">Somadeva<\/b>: consensual + welfare kingship) <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> inscriptions \/ coins \/ foreign accounts (<b class=\"pq-sc\">Megasthenes<\/b>, <b>Fahien<\/b>, <b>Huan Tsang<\/b>: actual practice)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-fb\">\n<div class=\"pq-pill p3\"><span>Counter-view<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-ft\">\n<p>Western doubt (<b class=\"pq-sc\">Max Mueller<\/b>: India = only religion) <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> Indian depth affirmed (<b class=\"pq-sc\">Bhandarkar<\/b>, <b class=\"pq-sc\">Barker<\/b>)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-fb\">\n<div class=\"pq-pill p4\"><span>Conclusion routes<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-ft\">\n<p class=\"pq-r\"><i class=\"pq-rt\">Route 1<\/i> scattered genres together <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> rich, serious political tradition<\/p>\n<p class=\"pq-r\"><i class=\"pq-rt\">Route 2<\/i> the plurality of sources is itself the defining mark of the tradition<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"pyq_year":[41],"pyq_marks":[35],"pyq_topic":[55],"pyq_paper":[33],"class_list":["post-1049","psir_pyq","type-psir_pyq","status-publish","hentry","pyq_year-41","pyq_marks-15-marks","pyq_topic-indian-political-thought","pyq_paper-paper-1"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_pyq\/1049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_pyq"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/psir_pyq"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_pyq\/1049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4643,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_pyq\/1049\/revisions\/4643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"pyq_year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pyq_year?post=1049"},{"taxonomy":"pyq_marks","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pyq_marks?post=1049"},{"taxonomy":"pyq_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pyq_topic?post=1049"},{"taxonomy":"pyq_paper","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pyq_paper?post=1049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}