Author: Shailendra Srivastava
The maintenance of law and order is the most visible test of State capacity. It is here that governance meets the citizen. In India’s constitutional framework, “police” and “public order” fall squarely within the domain of State governments. Yet, for nearly two decades, policing has also been shaped by judicially mandated reform, most notably through the landmark judgment in Prakash Singh v. Union of India. The judgment was historic. Its objective was to insulate the police from undue influence, ensure professional autonomy, provide stability of tenure, and create institutional mechanisms for accountability. These were legitimate and necessary concerns. It must…
Epigraph कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन ।मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥ Karmaṇy-evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācanaMā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo ’stvakarmaṇi “You have the right to action alone, never to its fruits.Let not the fruits of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction.”— Bhagavad Gita Introduction In the vast and layered tradition of Indian astrology, Lal Kitab stands as one of the most enigmatic and intellectually provocative systems. It resists easy classification. It is neither fully aligned with classical Vedic astrology nor merely a product of folk traditions. Instead, it occupies a distinctive intellectual space where…
Why did mythology, astrology, law, technology and governance advance together after 2000? In the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, time is not conceived as a straight line racing endlessly forward. It is understood as a cycle of creation, preservation, dissolution, and renewal, governing the cosmos, nature, and human society alike. What rises must pause; what expands must correct itself; what forgets must eventually remember. Civilisations, like living organisms, grow through such recurring rhythms. The movement of stars and planets reflects the same understanding. Their paths are circular and precise, yet their consequences are never identical, because the world below is never static. When…
Indian civilisation has long recognised a truth that modern nations are slowly rediscovering — power without principles eventually becomes self-destructive. Centuries before constitutions, elections and parliaments, India developed a sophisticated political and legal tradition rooted in Dharma. Its foundations lie across the Mahabharata, the Arthashastra, Manusmriti, the Buddhist Dhamma literature and other classical texts. Dharma: The Moral Architecture of Public Life In ancient India, Dharma was not a synonym for religion. It was the operating system of a just society — duty, fairness, self-restraint, social welfare and ethical accountability. Dharma set limits on political authority and guided governance in times…
