By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist In Hinduism, the Markandeya Purana is one of the oldest puranas, roughly 1,700-years- old. It is special because it contains the earliest reference to the Devi Bhagavata story in which Durga defeats the buffalo-demon Mahishasura. This reference though is only 1,300-years-old, so it must be a…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist When we read stories of Shiva, there is a constant reference to how he is forced to marry and produce his children, Kartikeya and Ganesha. When Shiva gets married, he comes down from the mountain Kailasa, which is cold, where no vegetation grows. He descends with…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist Persia refers to countries now known as Iran and Iraq. In ancient days, Iraq was called Mesopotamia, the fertile river crescent where one of the first civilisations was built around farming. Because of the repeated flooding, the gods were seen as capricious, making the lives of…

Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist Everybody sees the world through a frame of reference. No one, but the Gods, perhaps, have the full picture. Fate, free will, God — three frames of references that have sustained cultures for centuries; references that can never be proved or disproved; they have to be believed….

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist If you read the Vedas, which are nearly 4000 years old, the word ‘asura’ does not mean demon, or villain, but quite the opposite, a divine being. It’s a title given to Indra, Agni, Rudra, Varuna, and to most Vedic deities. Vritra, the enemy of Indra,…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist In mythology, generally, masculinity refers to the human desire to dominate and be territorial like the proverbial alpha male. In a positive sense it protects, in a negative sense it controls. Femininity is associated with nourishment, with feeding others (in a positive sense) and consuming others…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist In temples like Jagannath Puri and in many South Indian temples, Vishnu is flanked by two forms of Lakshmi: Sridevi and Bhoodevi. What is the difference between the two? Bhoodevi is the Goddess of the earth, from earth comes all our wealth. From within the earth…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist Buddha said that desire is the cause of suffering. Outgrowing desire enables one to experience freedom from suffering. The Vedic approach was very different. Suffering can be reduced when we pay attention to, and try to satisfy, each other’s desires. This gave rise to the ritual…

In the early times, Feng Shui was known as Kanyu, or ‘The Law of Heaven and Earth.’ Later on, it was coined as Feng Shui which literally translates as ‘Wind Water’ during the Eastern Jin Dynasty and this was based on the classic called as ‘Book of Burial.’ At the basic level, Traditional Feng Shui…