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Devdutt Pattanaik writes, illustrates and lectures on the relevance of mythology in modern times. He has, since 1996, written over 30 books and 600 columns on.
High above the sky stands Swarga, paradise, abode of the gods. Still above is Vaikuntha, heaven, abode of God. The doorkeepers of Vaikuntha are the twins, Jaya and Vijaya, both whose names mean 'victory'. One keeps you in Swarga; the other raises you into Vaikuntha.
In Vaikuntha there is bliss forever, in Swarga there is pleasure for only as long as you deserve. What is the difference between Jaya and Vijaya? Solve this puzzle and you will solve the mystery of the Mahabharata.
In this enthralling retelling of India's greatest epic, the Mahabharata, originally known as Jaya, Devdutt Pattanaik seamlessly weaves into a single narrative plots from the Sanskrit classic as well as its many folk and regional variants, including the Pandavani of Chattisgarh, Gondhal of Maharashtra, Terukkuttu of Tamil Nadu, and Yakshagana of Kamataka. Richly illustrated with over 250 line drawings by the author, the 108 chapters abound with little-known details such as the names of the hundred Kauravas, the worship of Draupadi as a goddess in Tamil Nadu, the stories of Astika, Madhavi, Jamini, Aravan and Barnareek, the Mahabharata version of the Shakuntaiam and the Ramayana, and the dating of the war based on astronomical data. With clarity and simplicity, the tales in the elegant volume reveal the eternal relevance of the Mahabharata, the complex and disturbing meditation on the human condition that has shaped Indian thought for over 3000 years.
Recorded January 2018 Website Signature Devdutt Pattanaik (Odia:ଦେବଦତ୍ତ ପଟ୍ଟନାୟକ) is an Indian author known for fictional work and interpretations of ancient Indian scriptures. He has incorporated myth into human resource management.
Devdutt Pattanaik He worked in the pharma and healthcare industry ( and, respectively) for 14 years and spent his spare time writing articles and books on mythology, which eventually became his full-time passion. He has also worked as a consultant. His first book Shiva: An Introduction was published in 1997.
Devdutt illustrates most of his own books. He was a speaker at the first in India held in November 2009. He is also a story consultant to, where is based on his work and, where he presents.
He also serves at the Culture Consultant to. Devdutt has consulted Star TV network on mythological tele-serials like ' Mahabharata and Siya ke Ram; these serials have challenged conventional views of the narratives and opened up new avenues of interpretation. Devdutt Pattanaik, mythologist and author, with his own 20 books Myth and Mythology He opines that “no society can exist without myth as it creates notions of right and wrong, good and bad, heaven and hell, rights and duties”. To him, mythology 'tells a people how they should see the world.
Different people will have their own mythology, reframing old ones or creating new ones.' Business Devdutt believes that leadership is about paying attention to the other, and enabling people not to mimic or pretend, but to be genuine/authentic about their fears. If a leader cannot sense fear in people around him, if a leader feels good when people around him are frightened into pretending, there is a problem. Power flows towards the leader or, rather, boss rather than towards the organization. In his book, Business Sutra: An Indian Approach to Management, “the central theme is that when individual beliefs come into conflict with corporate beliefs, problems surface in organisations.
Conversely, when institutional beliefs and individual beliefs are congruent, harmony is the resultant corporate climate. It is when people are seen as mere resources meant to be managed read manipulated through compensation and so-called motivation; it is when they are treated like switches in a circuit board; it is then that disharmony descends causing disruption.” Fiction Devdutt distinguishes between mythological fiction and mythology.
He notes that mythological fiction is very popular as it is fantasy rooted in familiar traditional tales. Mythology itself is about figuring out world views of cultures, essentially how people think in a particular cultural ethos. “Most writers I know focus on mythological fiction. Study of mythology still remains rather academic,” Pattanaik told IANS in an interview.
Performing Arts Focusing on Natyashastra, a Sanskrit Hindu text on the performing arts written by Bharata Muni, Devdutt has answered questions on the origins of the text and why it was referred to as the Panchama Veda. “By dancing, Hindu Gods differentiated Hindu faith, they drew attention to time, space, rhythm, vibration and body,” explains Pattanaik. He notices dance as part of religion. He speaks of how, over the years, the general gaze of looking at dance and dancers has changed. He states, 'Calling someone naachnewali or naachnewala has become a way of putting them down. We need to understand that dance is about seduction.
For me, the story of Lord Vishnu taking the form of Mohini and dancing to seduce Bhasmasura is one of the most powerful stories. We don’t understand that the story of Natraj also relates to seduction. But somehow, the word seduction has taken a negative connotation now. Through dance, we can understand a lot about Indian culture, history, geography and more. It’s about time we did that.' Political Stance Devdutt is known to avoid partisan views and points to the strengths and weaknesses of the Left and the Right, the secular as well as religious, the capitalists and the communists, the patriarchs and the feminists, as indicated on his many articles on beef ban, vegetarianism, and Ramayana. He is wary of the influence of 'white saviours' on liberals as well as religious radicals.
He has been rather contemptuous of the hyper-nationalism of a section of American Hindus who are clueless about Indian realities. He also frowns on secularists and atheists who deny their own missionary zeal and mythic structure, and see themselves as 'rational'. Reception In 2014, Pattanaik was listed in the top category of bestselling Indian authors. His book Devlok, based on the television programme of the same name, was one of the bestselling books of the year 2016. Fiction author has said that Pattanaik attempts to 'explain mythology in simple words'.
Psychologist Urmi Chanda-Vaz, who calls Pattanaik 'India's most beloved mythology explicator', praised his book 'My Gita'. Intellectual has praised Pattanaik by saying that he has made myth-reading 'an open, playful, almost domestic game, like Chinese Checkers or Scrabble'. Investment banker and Sanskrit scholar has criticized Pattanaik's 'My Gita' as a 'marvel of scholarly ineptitude and a travesty of Hindu philosophy', saying that the book is a sloppy work replete with factual, conceptual, philosophical, and linguistic errors. Saying that Pattanaik lacks even basic knowledge of Sanskrit, Misra has questioned Pattanaik's ability to understand Sanskrit and translate from it. Bibliography. Shiva: An Introduction. Vakils, Feffer and Simons Ltd., 1997.
Vishnu: An Introduction. Vakils, Feffer and Simons Ltd., 1999.
Devi, The Mother-Goddess: An Introduction. Vakils, Feffer, and Simons Ltd., 2000. The Goddess in India: The Five Faces of the Eternal Feminine. Inner Traditions/ Bear & Company, 2000. Translations: Hindi. Hanuman: An Introduction. Vakils, Feffer and Simons Ltd., 2001.
The Man Who Was A Woman and Other Queer Tales from Hindu Lore. Harrington Park Press, 2002. Indian Mythology: Tales, Symbols, and Rituals from the Heart of the Subcontinent. Inner Traditions/ Bear & Company, 2003. Lakshmi, The Goddess of Wealth and Fortune: An Introduction.
Vakils, Feffer, and Simons Ltd., 2003. Mithya: A Handbook of Hindu Mythology.
Penguin Books India, 2006. Translations: Hindi, Marathi, Turkish. Shiva to Shankara: Decoding the Phallic Symbol. Indus Source, India. Translations: Czech, Hindi.
The Pregnant King. Penguin Books India, 2008. Translations: Hindi, Marathi. The Book of Ram. Penguin Books India, 2009. 7 Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art. Westland Ltd., 2009.
Translations: Gujarati, Hindi. Hanuman's Ramayan. Tulika Publishers, 2010. Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata, Penguin Books India, 2010. Translations: Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil.
Fun in Devlok: An Identity Card for Krishna. Puffin India, 2011. Fun in Devlok: Gauri and the Talking Cow. Puffin India, 2011.
Fun in Devlok: Indra Finds Happiness. Puffin India, 2011. Fun in Devlok: Kama vs Yama. Puffin India, 2011. Fun in Devlok: Saraswati's Secret River.
Puffin India, 2011. Fun in Devlok: Shiva Plays Dumb Charades.
Puffin India, 2011. 7 Secrets of Shiva. Westland Ltd., 2011. Translations: Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Russian, Telugu. 7 Secrets of Vishnu. Westland Ltd., 2011.
Translations: Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Russian. 99 Thoughts on Ganesha: Stories, Symbols and Rituals of India's Beloved Elephant-headed Deity. Jaico Publishing House, 2011. Translations: Gujarati, Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi, Telugu.
Business Sutra: A Very Indian Approach to Management. Aleph Book Company, 2013. Translations: French, German, Hindi, Italian, Marathi, Tamil. Sita: An Illustrated Retelling of the Ramayana. Penguin Books India, 2013.
Translations: Hindi, Marathi, Tamil. Fun in Devlok Omnibus. Puffin India, 2014.
Shikhandi: And Other Tales They Don't Tell You. Zubaan Books & Penguin Books India, 2014.
Translations: Hindi, Marathi. Pashu: Animal Tales from Hindi Mythology. Penguin Books India, 2014.
Translations: Hindi. 7 Secrets of the Goddess. Westland Ltd., 2014. Translations: Hindi, Italian, Marathi, Russian. Rupa Publications India, 2015.
Translations: Hindi, Marathi. The Success Sutra: An Indian Approach to Wealth. Aleph Book Company, 2015. Devlok with Devdutt Pattanaik.
Penguin Random House India, 2016. Olympus - Indian Retelling of Greek Mythology - Publisher: Penguin Random House India, 2016. The Girl Who Chose: A New Way of Narrating the Ramayana. Puffin Books, 2016. The Jaya Colouring Book. Penguin Random House India, 2016.
The Leadership Sutra: An Indian Approach to Power. Aleph Book Company, 2016. The Sita Colouring Book. Penguin Random House India, 2016. The Talent Sutra: An Indian Approach to Learning, Aleph Book Company, 2016,. Culture: 50 Insights from Mythology.
HarperCollins India, Indus Source 2017. Devlok with Devdutt Pattanaik (Book 2) - Publisher: Penguin Random House, 2017 Translations: Hindi. Leader: 50 Insights from Mythology. HarperCollins India, Indus Source 2017. Shiva to Shankara: Giving Form to the Formless. HarperCollins India, Indus Source 2017. My Hanuman Chalisa.
Rupa Publications, 2017. The Boys Who Fought. Puffin, 2017. Devlok with Devdutt Pattanaik (Book 3) - Publisher: Penguin Random House, 2017. Shyam: An Illustrated Retelling of the Bhagavata. Penguin, 2018.
References. New York Times. Devdutt., Pattanaik, (2006). New Delhi, India: Penguin Books India. Devdutt, Pattanaik.
Gurgaon, Haryana, India. Devdutt, Pattanaik. Gurgaon, Haryana. Devdutt, Pattanaik. Devdutt, Pattanaik. Indian Express. 16 October 2010.
Devdutt, Pattanaik. Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. DEVDUTT., PATTANAIK, (2018). S.l.: HARPERBUSINESS. DEVDUTT., PATTANAIK, (2018). S.l.: HARPER360. Retrieved 2017-09-11.
Times of India Blog. Retrieved 2017-09-11. Retrieved 2017-09-11.
Retrieved 2017-09-11. Retrieved 2017-09-11. 16 September 2010.
Retrieved 2017-09-23. Financial Express. 24 April 2009.
1 November 2009. ^. Retrieved 2015-11-20. The Times of India.
Retrieved 2017-08-21. Retrieved 2017-08-21. Retrieved 2017-08-21.
Devdutt, Pattanaik. The Times of India.
Retrieved 2017-08-25. The Economic Times. Retrieved 2017-08-25. Rao, Namrata (5 February 2017). Retrieved 9 February 2017.
Chanda-Vaz, Urmi (5 February 2017). Retrieved 9 February 2017. Chanda-Vaz, Urmi (22 November 2015). Retrieved 9 February 2017. Visvanathan, Shiv (16 December 2016). 'Shiv Visvanathan on the importance of being (and thinking like) Devdutt Pattanaik'.
Misra, Nityanand (8 February 2017). Retrieved 9 February 2017. External links.
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