'The Difficulty of Being Good: On the Subtle Art of Dharma' turns to the Sanskrit epic, Mahabharata, in order to answer the question, 'Why be good?'. It dwells on the goal of dharma, moral well-being. It addresses the central problem of how to live our lives in an examined way - holding a mirror to us and forcing us to confront the many ways in which we deceive ourselves; how we are false to others; and how we oppress fellow human beings. 

Gurcharan Das is an author and public intellectual. He wrote the best-selling book, 'India Unbound', which has been translated into a dozen languages and filmed by the BBC. He writes a regular column for the Times of India, Dainik Bhaskar, Eenadu and other newspapers. He writes occasionally for the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Newsweek and Foreign Affairs. He is the author of the novel, 'A Fine Family'. His other literary works include a book of essays, 'The Elephant Paradigm', and an anthology, 'Three English Plays'. Mr. Das was CEO of Procter & Gamble India before he took early retirement to become a full time writer.