Mythologist | Author | Speaker | Illustrator
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Articles
The moral consciousness
We live in times where there seems to be a fracture between consciousness and morality. But an expansion of the former leads to a deepening of the latter…
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Articles
Is divorce permitted in Hinduism?
In many cultures, marriage is a contract. Divorce is the breaking of the contract. Some, like the Catholic Church, believe that the contract of marriage is sacred and hence, must never be broken. Others disagree…
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Articles
Decoding Ganesha: it is difficult to reduce him to a signpost of a single idea
Bachelor or polygamous? Ancient god or contemporary Buddhist icon? Ganesha, like Hinduism, refuses to be reduced to a single idea…
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Articles
Why do Hindus worship cows?
Hindus don’t just worship cows. They also worship cobras and monkeys and elephants, as finite forms of the infinite divine…
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Articles
Guru of gurus
In the Avadhuta Gita, Datta, the first teacher, describes 24 observations that gave him insight…
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Articles
Why are Brahmin and Kshatriya aspirational for most Hindus and not Vaishya and Shudra?
The chatur-varna system or the four-fold division of society was the hallmark of Vedic society. But it is completely theoretical, probably based on “aptitude” rather than “birth” but one is not entirely sure…
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Articles
What Devdutt Pattanaik Says about the Kinnars/Third-Genders and Kankalas/Skeletons of Tantrik Temples in Nepal
I was told that Guhyeshwari Temple was one of the revered holy temples in Kathmandu, Nepal. This temple is dedicated to Adi Shakti…
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Articles
Why do Hindus prefer birth anniversaries to death anniversaries?
In Hinduism, memory of death prevents progress, wisdom and liberation…
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Articles
Why Hanuman Chalisa is the most powerful expression of personal Hinduism
Devdutt Pattanaik demystifies the ancient hymn for the contemporary reader…
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Interviews
Meet the characters who appear in both the Mahabharata and the Ramayana (and find out why)
From Parashurama and Jambuvan to Shiva and even Sita/Draupadi…
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Articles
What is Tamil Veda?
Depending on who you ask, you will find one of three books identified as the Tamil Veda, locally known as Dravida Veda or Tamil Marai…
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Articles
Eternal or progressing truths
From the Vedas through the Upanishads, Puranas and Bhakti poetry, we see the struggle to communicate the same Vedic idea in a way that is more relevant and meaningful to a particular context…
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Articles
The big question: Is yoga for power or fitness, wisdom or devotion?
Today, any understanding of yoga is often obscured by a grand media war to dominate the discourse on yoga…
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Articles
The Immortals
Published on 23rd April, 2016, in Mid-day. In Hindu mythology, whenever an asura asks for immortality, Brahma tells them that they can have whatever they wish except that. The clever asura then asks for a boon that will render him immortal for all practical purposes. But, embedded in the boon is a loophole, a vulnerability…
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Articles
Is Hinduism the same as Hindutva?
A crude, but useful way to understand the relationship between Hinduism and Hindutva is to study Hindu history…
