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DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Kolkata:20261024T090000
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Kolkata:20261025T200000
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SUMMARY:44th INDICA Online Symposium | Rājadharma Applied: IKS Lens for Policy\, Governance\, and Leadership
DESCRIPTION:About the Symposium\nRājadharma — the dharma of those who hold power and carry public responsibility — is among the oldest and most sustained conversations in India’s civilisational thought. Across Arthaśāstra and Nīti literature\, the Rājadharma sections of the Itihāsa-Purāṇa\, Kāvya\, inscriptions and regional chronicles\, the tradition reflected deeply on how decisions are made\, how institutions endure\, how crises are met\, and who is fit to lead. That conversation is not a closed chapter of history. It is a living resource\, waiting to be put to use. \nIn September 2025\, the 43rd INDICA Online Symposium set out to widen the textual field of IKS studies in statecraft\, governance and leadership beyond the prevailing focus on Kauṭilya’s Arthaśāstra — bringing Pañcatantra and Hitopadeśa\, the Rājadharma sections of Itihāsa-Purāṇa\, Kāvya works of royal biography\, Nīti and Subhāṣita compilations\, and lineage texts such as the Kāmandakīya Nītisāra and Śukranīti into focus. Those talks are available as a playlist on the INDICA YouTube channel. That symposium\, alongside more than thirty engagements with State institutions\, universities and public systems\, led to the launch of the INDICA Kauṭilya Centre for Policy\, Governance and Leadership in January 2026. \nThe 44th Symposium asks the question that naturally follows: what is this widened corpus for? Its organising theme is Application — moving Rājadharma from something studied to something usable. An IKS lens\, as the symposium frames it\, is neither retrofitting Indian texts as decorative precedent for frameworks devised elsewhere\, nor treating them as historical objects that are studied but never drawn upon\, nor applying them literally without contextual realignment. It lets the tradition’s own constructs — Rājadharma\, Puruṣārtha\, Yajña\, Daṇḍa\, Śāḍguṇya\, Āpad — organise the inquiry\, extracting first principles to create new knowledge for contemporary institutions. \nOver two days\, talks will trace a single arc — from text\, to taxonomy\, to translation\, to present-day governance — across five connected subthemes: \n\nTaxonomy and Textual Foundations — drawing functional constructs of statecraft such as Daṇḍanīti\, Śāḍguṇya\, Āpaddharma and Arthanīti from prescriptive śāstra\, and from the dramatised narratives of Itihāsa-Purāṇa and Kāvya alike.\nHistorical Practice — how these constructs fared in lived polities\, as seen in inscriptions\, administrative records and regional dynastic accounts — including where statecraft broke down.\nConceptual Translation — mapping constructs such as Amātya\, Śāḍguṇya and Kośa onto modern offices\, doctrines and policy\, noting differences as carefully as correspondences.\nContemporary Application and Institutional Design — reading present-day paradigms such as cooperative federalism\, decentralisation\, crisis response and diplomacy through the tradition’s lens\, and proposing frameworks of our own.\nPedagogy and Mainstreaming — carrying this arc into the education and training of administrators\, policy students and institutional leaders.\n\nPolicy\, Governance\, and Leadership — the Centre’s own name — are the three registers into which Rājadharma’s applied constructs resolve: policy drawing on nīti and Puruṣārtha\, governance on Yajña as coordinated and sustained action\, and leadership on Svadharma and Svakarma. The symposium is the Centre’s founding mandate carried forward. \nWho Should Register\nThe symposium is open to all Indics who think about\, practise\, or teach in the fields of policy\, governance\, leadership\, management\, and public and institutional culture\, including: \n\nCivil servants\, public administrators and those working in State institutions\nPolicy researchers\, analysts and think-tank professionals\nManagers\, entrepreneurs and leaders shaping organisational and institutional culture\nAcademics and students of public policy\, management\, the social sciences and the humanities\nAnyone who wishes to see how India’s own knowledge traditions can speak to contemporary institutions\n\nThe INDICA Kauṭilya Centre invites you to join us for the 44th INDICA Online Symposium\, Rājadharma Applied: IKS Lens for Policy\, Governance\, and Leadership\, held in memory of Arthashastra Expert Dr. Radhakrishnan Pillai on 24–25 October 2026. \nTo read the complete symposium note\, including the background and a detailed account of each subtheme\, visit the original announcement. \nSpeakers\nScholars\, thinkers\, governance practitioners\, public leaders and management professionals \nSpeakers consist of distinguished luminaries from governance\, management\, policy design\, public and corporate leadership\, and scholars who have been selected through an open call for abstracts. \nSchedule\nDay 1 (Sat\, 24 Oct 2026) \n\n\n\n\nTime\nTopic\nSpeaker\nPresentation Type\n\n\n09:00 AM\nSvāgatam – Welcome to the Symposium\nShri. Shivakumar GV\nDirector – INDICA Kauṭilya Centre\nCurator’s Welcome\n\n\n09:05 AM\nRemembering Dr. Radhakrishnan Pillai – A Personal Note\nShri. Hari Vadlamani\nFounder – INDICA\, NICE\, coHari\nFounder’s Note\n\n\n09:10 AM\nBook Release: Arthaśāstra – The Art of Leadership by Dr. Radhakrishnan Pillai\nSushri. Surekha Radhakrishnan Pillai\nDirector – Atmadarshan Pvt Ltd\nBook Launch\n\n\n09:20 AM\nDr. Radhakrishnan Pillai – A Śraddhāñjali from INDICA Kauṭilya Centre\nShri. Shivakumar GV\nDirector – INDICA Kauṭilya Centre\nA Memorial Tribute\n\n\n09:30 AM\nThe Importance of Rājadharma\nProf. Dr. Shrinivasa Varakhedi\nHonourable Vice Chancellor -Central Sanskrit University\nInaugural Keynote\n\n\n10:00 AM\nRājadharma Applied: An IKS Lens for Policy\, Governance\, Leadership\nShri. Shivakumar GV\nDirector – INDICA Kauṭilya Centre\nSymposium Introduction\n\n\n10:30 AM\nEnvironmental Sustainability: Lessons from Kauṭilya’s Arthaśāstra\nDr. Abhoy K Ojha\nProfessor (OB & HRM)\, IIMB (Retd)\nDistinguished Talk\n\n\n11:00 AM\nLessons from Arthaśāstra for corporate top management teams’.\nDr. Subramanian Chidambaran\nStrategy and Sustainability Leader\nSpecial Talk\n\n\n11:30 AM\nMantra and Deliberative Governance: Daśaratha’s Pariṣad\nShri. Garikapati Pavan Kumar\nIndependent Researcher – IKS\nSymposium Talk\n\n\n12:00 PM\nConceptualizing Rajdharma within Democratic Frameworks: The Possibilities and Limits of Alignment\nProf. Deepti Acharya\nProfessor – Political Science\, MSU Baroda\nSymposium Talk\n\n\n12:30 PM\nBook Conversation:\nSāma\, Dāma\, Danda\, Bheda: Ancient Indian Wisdom for Strategy\, Leadership\, Power & Statecraft\nSushri. Ami Ganatra\nAuthor\, Speaker\, IKS Researcher\nBook Conversation\n\n\n01:00 PM\nLunch\n\n\n02:00 PM\nPower as Visualised by Kauṭilya and the Seminal European Post-Modernist M. Foucault; Retooling Global State Power Indices\nSushri. Sumedha Verma Ojha\nHistorian\, Author\, Speaker\, IRS (Retd)\nUN Consultant Geneva\nDistinguished Talk\n\n\n02:30 PM\nRājadharma Applied: The Rāmāyaṇa Guide to Building Strong Teams\nShri. Anil Srinivas Chilla\nAuthor\, Global Leadership Practitioner\nSpecial Talk\n\n\n03:00 PM\nSubhāṣita-s from the Panchatantra Applied to Various Events\nShri. Vijay S Laghate\nIndependent Researcher\nSymposium Talk\n\n\n03:30 PM\nEnduring Principles\, Altered Conditions: The Semitic Encounter and A Reimagination of Rajadharma\nDr. Arjun Anand\nAssociate Editor\, The Long Memory\nSymposium Talk\n\n\n04:00 PM\nRājadharma in Practice: Translating Kauṭilyan Principles into the Contemporary Organization\n(An Exploratory Case from Aster Technologies)\nShri. Rajesh Kamath\nFounder – Chanakya Consulting Insights\n&\nDr. Ashwini ShelkeFormer Head of HR – Aster Technologies\nSymposium Talk\n\n\n04:30 PM\nStatecraft\, Duty\, and Imperial Decline: A Comparative Study of Vidura Nīti and Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations\nDr. Rajshekar Krishnan\nIndependent Researcher\nSymposium Talk\n\n\n05:00 PM\nDaṇḍanīti in Laghu Arhanīti: Reconstructing Jain Principles of Statecraft\nDr. Sushree Sasmita Pati\nAssistant Professor\, Gangadhar Meher University\, Sambhalpur\nSymposium Talk\n\n\n05:30 PM\nThe Application of Rājadharma to Empire Building and Governance in the Trans-Himalayas\n(Case study of the Ruling Philosophy of Sengge Namgyal (1616-1623 CE) of Ladakh)\nShri. Venkatesh Rangan\nIndependent Researcher\nSymposium Talk\n\n\n06:00 PM\nRājadharma Perspective of Arthaśāstra\nShri. Jayesh Prabhulal Solanki\nVisiting Faculty-Chanakya International Institute of Leadership Studies\nSymposium Talk\n\n\n06:30 PM\nFrom Rājadharma to Svadharma: Reimagining Parenting as Dharmic Leadership\nSushri. Vasantha Reddi\nFounder\, Svadharma Circles\nSymposium Talk\n\n\n07:00 PM\nThree Remarkable Queens who taught Rājadharma\nSushri. Manjula Tekal\nAuthor\, Independent Researcher\nSymposium Talk\n\n\n07:30 PM\nFrom Svarājya to Good Governance: Exploring Rājadharma through Ājñāpatra\nSushri. Varsha Pargat\nAuthor\, Independent Researcher\nSymposium Talk\n\n\n08:00 PM\nBeyond the coercive power of the State: A Study into the Dynamism of the FOUR UPĀYAS for Contemporary Governance\nShri. Nakul Sharma\nDoctoral Scholar\, NLU Delhi\nSymposium Talk\n\n\n\nDay 2 (Sun\, 25 Oct 2026) \n\n\n\nTime\nTopic\nSpeaker\nPresentation Type\n\n\n09:00 AM\nReflections on Rājadharma – An Experience Speak\nDr. Karanam Aravinda Rao\nIPS\, DGP (Retd)\, United Andhra Pradesh\nDay-2 Keynote\n\n\n09:20 AM\nYogakṣema – The Oldest Promise a Government Makes\nShri. Pranav Patel\nDean – Indian Institute of Democratic Leadership (IIDL)\nSpecial Talk\n\n\n09:50 AM\nRājadharma: Perspectives from Shri. Aurobindo\, Swami Vivekananda and Shri. Deendayal Upadhyaya\nDr. Sampadananda Mishra\nFounding Director – Centre for Human Sciences\, Rishihood University\nA Conversation\n\n\n10:10 AM\n Rāṣṭra-Śarīra\, The Body of the Nation: Rājadharma as Systems Thinking\nShri. Vinay Kulkarni\nFounder & CEO\, ALCHMI Strategy Consulting\nSpecial Talk\n\n\n10:40 AM\nRājadharma: Life and Legacy of the Last Mysore King HH Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar\nDr. Deepti Navaratna\nTV Raman Chair Professor\, NIAS – Bengaluru\nSpecial Talk\n\n\n11:10 AM\nAnvikṣikī: From Critical Thinking to Wise Decisions\nDr. Vinayak Rajat Bhat\nSenior Subject Matter Expert\, Vyoma Linguistics Labs Foundation\nSymposium Talk\n\n\n11:40 AM\nMethodological Approach to Rājadharma: Manusmṛti\, Kirātārjunīyam\, and Modern Application\nDr. Vivek Sharma\nAsst. Professor – Government College Solan\, Himachal Pradesh\nSymposium Talk\n\n\n12:10 PM\nExamining Indic Perspectives in Policy: A Study of Daiśika Śāstra\nShri. Samridha Joshi\nHead of Research\, India House\, New Delhi\nSymposium Talk\n\n\n12:40 PM\nRājadharma\, Institutional Theory and Jananayaka Culture\nShri. Raghava Krishna\nCEO – Brhat\nGuest Talk\n\n\n01:10 PM\nBook Conversation: Rājadharma Sārasaṅgraha\nDr. Shrinidhi R Pyaati\nAssistant Professor\, Poorna Prajna Samshoshana Mandiram\nBook Conversation\n\n\n01:20 PM\nLunch\n\n\n02:00 PM\nOperationalizing Kauṭilyan Tantrayukti as an Operating System for Project Management\nWg Cdr Vijay Chattur (Retd)\nIndian Air Force\nSymposium Talk\n\n\n02:30 PM\nVidura Nīti for Contemporary Organisations and the AI World\nShri. Nigamanth Srivatsan\nLeadership Coach\, ACIL\n&\nSwami Agastyananda Giri\nR&D Lead\, Anaadi Centre for Indic Leadership (ACIL)\nSymposium Talk\n\n\n03:00 PM\nYogakṣema for Regenerative Transition\nShri. Venky Ramachandran\nFounder\, Krishi.System\nSymposium Talk\n\n\n03:30 PM\nWho Governs the King? Counsel\, State Capacity and Institutional Rājadharma in Someśvara III’s Mānasollāsa\nShri. Devamalya De\nIndependent Researcher\, IIT Hyderabad Alumnus\nSymposium Talk\n\n\n04:00 PM\nCultural Norms and Institutional Efficacy: A Perspective from Dharma based Economic Frameworks\nShri. Sriram Balasubramanian\nEconomist\, Best Selling Author of Dharmanomics\nSpecial Talk\n\n\n04:30 PM\nFrom Ancient Text to Contemporary Leadership: A Hermeneutic Reinterpretation of Kautilya’s Arthaśāstra\nDr. Venoth Rex\nSenior Lecturer\, INTI International University-Malaysia\nSymposium Talk\n\n\n05:00 PM\nArthaśāstra in the Buddhist Tradition:  Ethics\, Statecraft\, and the Reinterpretation of Political Power\nDr. Kamini Gogri\nProject Consultant & Researcher\, SOAS\,\nCentre of Jaina Studies\, University of London\nSymposium Talk\n\n\n05:30 PM\nIndic Diplomatic Thought: Rājanaya\, Ṣāḍguṇya and the IKS Approach to Interstate Relations\nDr. Bharti Chhibber\nProfessor\, University of Delhi\nSymposium Talk\n\n\n6-00 PM\nRe-reading Yogakṣema as a Framework for Attainment\, Preservation\, Justice and Capability\nDr. Pinku Jha\nAsst. Prof. – Policitical Science\,\nFaculty of Arts\, MSU Baroda\nSymposium Talk\n\n\n6:30 PM\nSymposium Way Forward Note: Arthashastra – A Vision for the Future\nDr. B Mahadevan\nProfessor of Operations Management –\nIIMB (Retd)\nClosure Keynote
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