By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist In traditional Hindu society, dogs are considered inauspicious. This is most evident in dharma shastras, which were put together about 2,000 years ago. Dogs were associated with death, as well as with pollution and, therefore, belonged to the periphery of society. Dog-eater was a common way…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist To understand Hindu mythology, it is critical to understand the metaphor of forests. Forests represent the default wild world, where might is right, where strong prey on the weak; while culture represents the world, where the forest has been domesticated, where might is no longer right,…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist Elections are a time to express desire, while the time in between is to face our destiny. For the arrow of our desire creates the noose of our destiny. In Hindu mythology, desire and destiny are the two principles governing all life. Desire propels action; action…

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 In Hindu astronomy, the sky is divided into 28 parts or nakshatras, based on 28 different constellations, one of which is supposed to have disappeared so effectively that there remain only 27. These constellations or houses are visualised as Goddesses. It is said that the Moon…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist Draw a square on a piece of paper. Now draw another square over this square, rotating it at a 90-degree angle. You will get an eight-pointed star, pointing to the four cardinal and four ordinal directions. In tantric yantras, this represents the Lotus, which simultaneously symbolises…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist Whenever archaeologists uncover a site of human habitation, they invariably come upon artifacts and monuments that are neither simply utilitarian nor merely aesthetic. These include ritual objects and structures such as charms, talismans, sacrificial altars, temples and tombs. They make little sense to the outsider, but…