Mythology

Have you lost all hope? Does the world feel bleak and unforgiving? The pandemic crisis has seen many of us lose family, friends, colleagues. How can you recover from this devastating loss? You are surrounded by anger and violence everywhere. Bad news hits you – a failing economy, climate change – every day. Do you […]

Marriage, by mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik, brings together stories from Vedic, Puranic, Tamil, and Sanskrit literature, from regional, classical, folk and tribal lore, from oral and textual traditions, across 3000 years of history and 3 million square kilometres of geography, to reveal the diversity and fluidity of Indian customs and beliefs around marriage. ‘Let all the […]

Artha-shastra is about generating food, i.e. wealth, by creating goods and services; Kama-shastra is about indulging our hungers with this food. Dharma-shastra insists we consider the hunger of others, while Moksha-shastra is about outgrowing our hungers, in order to be detached and generous. Together, these four Hindu shastras provide a framework within which human action, […]

Before nationalists and patriots, before colonizers and invaders, before emperors and kings, India was woven together by pilgrim paths. Seekers and sages travelled north and south, east and west, across mountains and along rivers, ignoring artificial boundaries, seeking and finding gods. Renowned mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik takes us on an insightful journey to thirty-two holy sites […]

In the wilderness of humanity, In the forests of the mind, Who eats whom? Who sees whom? Aranyaka is about the great forests within us, and without. It is about food, feeding and love. Braiding the stories of three spirited rishikas—Katyayani the Large, Maitreyi the Fig and Gargi the Weaver—it explores the fears and hungers […]

The popular names of many yogic asanas – from Virbhadra-asana and Hanuman-asana to Matsyendra-asana, Kurma-asana and Ananta-asana – are based on characters and personages from Indian mythology. Who were these mythological characters, what were their stories, and how are they connected to yogic postures? Devdutt Pattanaik’s newest book Yoga Mythology (co-written with international yoga practitioner […]