Business Sutra 9: Discrimination

By Devdutt Pattanaik

Telecast on CNBC on 31 July 2010

What came first? Gender discrimination or mythology? Does mythology sanction gender discrimination or is mythology a reflection of gender discrimination? The problem with symbols is that people look at them literally and so miss the whole point. Mythology are symbols communicating an idea. Male form is therefore 'signifier' of an idea and not what is 'signified'. Same holds true for female forms. When Durga kills a male demon, it is not about women killing men. The image communicates a deeper idea that is often missed as we are in a hurry for a simplistic convenient 'sign post'. I tackle this great problem of mythological studies in this episode. I also tackle the issue of caste. Hindu mythology acknowledges differentiation and hierarchy. Is that sanction? I don't think so. Clearly something has been lost in translation?