By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist In Himachal and nearby regions, a yogi is worshipped, who is considered a form of Shiva in Kalyug. His name is Baba Balak Nath. In art, he is visualised as a young boy with a yoga staff in his hand, seated on a peacock with the…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist There is a big difference between the words ‘legend’ and ‘myth’. Legend is a story of a heroic figure that has some historical basis but is largely fantasy. Mythology is not just stories, but also symbols and rituals, which helps a culture make sense of the…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist Once Vishnu and Laxmi had a quarrel. Laxmi left Vaikuntha in a huff and came down to earth. Vishnu followed her and tried coaxing her to return, but she refused. So, Vishnu decided to remain on earth, until he could convince her to return. He looked…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist When we speak of Indra, we must keep in mind that the scriptures refer to six different types of Indra, belonging to different periods of history. The first is the Vedic Indra. He is the primary God of the Rig Veda, described as riding a chariot,…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist In the Puranas, we are told that Narada, the mind, was born from the thoughts of Brahma, and like all sages had the knowledge of Brahma Vidya, or the ultimate truth of the world. He would go around the world sharing this knowledge and enabling people…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist As per scientists, the world began 13 billion years ago with the Big Bang. Earth came into being about 5 billion years ago. And about 4 billion years ago, life emerged on Earth. What we mean by ‘life’ is the appearance of sentience, the appearance of…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist If you travel to Cambodia, you will come across a folklore that a sage from India known as Kaundinya travelled across the sea to what is now called Cambodia, where he encountered a Naga princess, who fell in love with him. She happened to be the…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist In the State of Chhattisgarh, in Khapri village  of Durg district, there is a temple dedicated to a dog. It is called Kukur Dev. The story goes that there was once a banjara (gypsy) who had a dog. During a famine, he had no money, so…