Mythology

In The Stories We Tell: Mythology to Make Sense of Modern Lives, renowned mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik presents seventy-two tales from India’s rich treasure of myths and legends to explain life in the twenty-first century. The stories are arranged into a variety of themes, including ‘Apsara’, a reflection on the portrayal of women in ancient texts; […]

Eden An Indian Retelling of Jewish, Christian and Islamic Lore Eden is the garden of happiness that humanity was cast out of when Adam and Eve, the first human couple, disobeyed the one true God, and ate the fruit of the forbidden tree. To this garden we shall return if we follow God’s law and […]

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 […]