Books

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, […]

A read-and-colour children’s book, which talks about the favourite animal companions of various gods and how these companions became their vahanas.   The gods needed animals to travel around the world and the animals needed the gods to learn how not to be hungry. This was an amazing idea, thanks to goddess Saraswati. This is […]

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 […]

Lakshmi is worshipped as the goddess of wealth. Her arrival is considered auspicious, while her departure is bad and inauspicious. In temples, gods are bedecked with jewels; during festivals, our houses are decorated with flowers, lamps and lakshmi’s footprints. Clearly, she is a much-desired goddess. Yet, some friends and relatives, even gurus, tell us not […]

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 […]