By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist Krishna was raised by cowherds and then he moved from Vrindavan to Mathura and thence to Dwarka, where he married many women, often Princesses from surrounding kingdoms. But his status in the Yadava clan was ensured by his marriage to Satyabhama, daughter of the richest Yadava…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist In Vedic mythology we hear how the Ashwin Kumars were unsuitable Gods, not allowed to partake the Soma offering. To get the offering, they approached Dadichi, who said that if he chanted the verses, then his head would split into a thousand pieces. So, the Ashwins…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist In Egyptian, Persian, Assyrian and Sumerian imagery, kings are often shown hunting lions and defeating them with their bows to establish their power. Images of the epic hero Gilgamesh often show him holding a lion firmly, as if it were a cat. That image establishes his…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist The Chaturmukha Vishnu is a very rare form of Vishnu once worshipped in Kashmir from the 8th and 9th century, when it was an important centre of Hinduism. The image shows Vishnu with four heads. Three clear faces are those of Vishnu, the Narasimha or the…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist Between the 5th and 10th century C.E., we find the development of Puranic literature. Many stories explained the relationships of Vishnu’s many avatars. One story that merits attention is the story of Pradyumna, the son of Krishna and Rukmini. The story is told very differently in…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist The mention of Southern States is conspicuously absent in Vedic literature. Hymns of the Rig Veda date back to 1500 BCE. They refer to the Saptasindhu or Indus Valley region. Shatapatha Brahmana, dated to 800 BCE refers to a movement towards what is now Bihar. In…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist Once upon a time, there was a Princess of Kalinga, who was abducted by a lion who forced her to bear him a child. The child, Sinhabahu, killed his own father and, for this crime, was told to leave the country on a ship. He travelled…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist When speaking of Indian mythology, the focus is on the stories, symbols and rituals of major religions such as Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism. We ignore the mythologies of the various tribal communities of India, who have lived in the subcontinent long before the arrival of Aryan…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist The word ‘dharma’ first appears in the Rig Veda; but in a collection of a thousand hymns, the word dharma occurs less than a hundred times, making it not a very key concept. It is related to ‘foundation’ and ‘stability’ and ‘governance’. Even in the Upanishads,…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist The churning of the ocean of milk is a key theme found in temples across ancient Southeast Asia indicating the spread of Hindu ideas there between the 3rd and 13th century. This story is linked to kingship and enterprise as it shows how Vishnu gets the…