Why are Hindus so ritualistic? Why do they worship idols? Are Hindus supposed to be vegetarian? Why is a Hindu prayer different from a Muslim or Christian prayer? Did the arrival of Muslim invaders a thousand years ago destroy Hindu culture? Answering key questions on Hindu philosophy and associated Indian history in simple, lucid, engaging ways, and exploring the often curious customs and beliefs that are an intrinsic part of the Hindu faith, this Hindi translation of Devdutt Pattanaik’s bestseller is a treasure house of information on the complex tenets of Hinduism. For many a curious reader, Aastha: Hindu Dharm mein 40 Prabodhan will prove to be a delightful and eye-opening introduction to the intricacies of one of the world’s most practiced religions.

Why are identity cards important, even for gods? How can you tell a Deva from a Manava? How would you find a particular god in a crowd of gods? One day, when Krishna wanted to board an aeroplane, he was not allowed to! All because he did not have an identity card. Then his friends Garuda and Sesha took him to meet Lata-kumari in Guwahati, who told him the story of Anasuya and the Ashwini twins, and why Rishi Chavan made a rule that all gods should carry a dhvaja a flag with each god’s very own symbol. Did Krishna get his identity card so he could ride the aeroplane finally?

Devdutt Pattanaik is the author of over twenty-five books and 500 articles on the relevance of mythology in modern times. Trained in medicine (MBBSfrom Grant Medical College, Mumbai University), he worked in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries for fifteen years before devoting all his time to his passion for decoding beliefs of all cultures, modern and ancient, located beneath the veneer of rationality. To know more, visit devdutt.com.

Are the illustrious clans of the Mahabharata from Surya Vansh or Chandra Vansh?

Which yuga does the Ramayana occur in, and does it occur only once?

What do haldi, kumkum, bhasm or chandan signify in a puja thali?

After the sensational response to Season 1 of EPIC Channel’s Devlok with Devdutt Pattanaik, Devdutt invited his viewers and readers to ask him questions about Hindu mythology, which he has answered over thirty thrilling episodes. Prepare to be educated, entertained and moved as Devdutt delves into the exhilarating variety of Hindu mythology.

In this volume, you will discover the difference between dhyan and darshan, aastik and nastik, Surya Vansh and Chandra Vansh. There are amusing stories about your favourite Hanuman and fascinating facts about the dark Vishnu avatars, Varaha and Narasimha. Learn why Lakshmi or Saraswati are always in conflict, and how women have the most intriguing characters in mythological tales.

Journey deeper into the magical world of Hindu mythology with Devdutt, and you’ll never want to turn back.

“Where did the name Radha come from?When did Christianity first come to India?What is the connection between sanskar and dharma?
After the enormous success of the first two seasons of EPIC Channel’s Devlok with Devdutt Pattanaik, India’s favourite mythologist is back with a third instalment to answer these questions and more, this time delving deeper into Hinduism and other religions as well!
In this volume, you will read about the various versions of the Ramayana found across Asia. There are chapters on Buddhism and Jainism and their fascinating histories. Learn where the concept of marriage comes from, the reasons behind the many riti-riwaz in Hinduism and the place of fathers and fatherhood in Indian mythology, among myriad other topics and lesser-known tales-all tackled by Devdutt in a Q&A format.
Covering over fifteen informative and inspiring episodes, this volume is a heady mix of education and entertainment.”

Artha-shastra is about generating food, i.e. wealth, by creating goods and services; Kama-shastra is about indulging our hungers with this food. Dharma-shastra insists we consider the hunger of others, while Moksha-shastra is about outgrowing our hungers, in order to be detached and generous. Together, these four Hindu shastras provide a framework within which human action, its purposes and consequences, can be defined; together, they validate human existence and give it meaning.

In Dharma Artha Kama Moksha, Devdutt Pattanaik uses his unique understanding of mythology to provide an accessible and lucid guide to the Hindu way of thinking, with short essays that are crisp expositions of important concepts.

Artha-shastra is about generating food, i.e. wealth, by creating goods and services; Kama-shastra is about indulging our hungers with this food. Dharma-shastra insists we consider the hunger of others, while Moksha-shastra is about outgrowing our hungers, in order to be detached and generous. Together, these four Hindu shastras provide a framework within which human action, its purposes and consequences, can be defined; together, they validate human existence and give it meaning.

In Dharma Artha Kama Moksha, Devdutt Pattanaik uses his unique understanding of mythology to provide an accessible and lucid guide to the Hindu way of thinking, with short essays that are crisp expositions of important concepts.

Why are Hindus so ritualistic? Why do they worship idols? Were Hindus always casteist? Are Hindus supposed to be vegetarian? Why is a Hindu prayer different from a Muslim or Christian prayer? Did the arrival of Muslim invaders a thousand years ago destroy Hindu culture?Answering key questions on Hindu philosophy and associated Indian history in simple, lucid, engaging ways, and exploring the often curious customs and beliefs that are an intrinsic part of the Hindu faith, Devdutt Pattanaik’s latest book is a treasure house of information on the complex tenets of Hinduism. For many a curious reader, Faith: 40 Insights into Hinduism will prove to be a delightful and eye-opening introduction to the intricacies of one of the world’s most practiced religions.

Why is the cow useful to everyone? How are the earth and the cow similar? Why is Gauri another name for a cow? Little girl Gauri thinks milk comes from packets, till she meets Sweety the talking cow. Sweety tells Gauri about the first cow on earth, Surabhi, and how she provided so many useful things to man fuel, manure, medicine and shelter. Sweety narrates stories about a king who found good luck because he gifted cows to many people, and how another king was turned into a lizard because he was not careful about who he gave his cows to! Sweety also tells Gauri how Krishna the cowherd looked after his beloved animals, and why Kali decided to comb her hair.

Why was Indra an unhappy god? What are the many magical things Indra has in paradise? Will Indra ever find happiness? Little Harsha was sad, so a cloud flew him up to Indra’s palace, just to show Harsha that the king of gods was sadder than him! There, with his new friends Indra and Airavata, the six-tusked white elephant, Harsha sees so many amazing things a wish- fulfilling tree, a pot of never- ending gold, and a potion that keeps him healthy. Then Indra thinks of a naughty plan to steal Vasishta’s cow! When he catches Indra, a very angry Vasishta tells him the secret to being happy. (And no, it has nothing to do with ice creams, video games or wish-fulfilling trees.) But will the king of gods learn his lesson finally and stop being sad?

• Olympus is the home of the Greek gods, much like Amravati of the Hindu devas.
• Zeus, leader of Olympians, wields a thunderbolt like Indra and rides an eagle like Vishnu.
• The feats of the Greek hero Heracles, known to Romans as Hercules, reminded many of Krishna, as did his name, ‘Hari-kula-esha’ or lord of the Hari clan.
• The Greek epic of a husband sailing across the sea with a thousand ships to bring his wife, Helen, back from Troy seems strikingly similar to the story of Ram rescuing Sita from Lanka.
Is there a connection between Greek and Hindu mythology then? Does it have something to do with a common Indo-European root? Or maybe an exchange of ideas in the centuries that followed the arrival of Alexander the Great, when Greek emissaries travelled to the kingdoms of Mathura and Magadha?
In this book, mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik turns his attention to ancient Greek tales and explores a new world of stories. Long have Europeans and Americans retold Indic mythologies. It is time for Indians to reverse the gaze.

Sita: An Illustrated Retelling of Ramayana is an epic story based on the life of India’s most admired prince- ‘Rama’ and his wife ‘Sita’. Ramayana is a mythological story, which is being passed on from past many generations. Since ages, the character that is most emphasized has been that of Rama, who has always been known to keep his word whatever be the circumstances. The role of Sita has been generally overlooked in the past. Sita too is a pivotal character being a single mother; she went through many ups and downs all alone. Still, she has often been portrayed as a frail and meek character.

In the present book, the author has emphasized on this very fact that Sita, though shown as a submissive character, was a woman who had massive strength. In the book, the author has shown Sita’s childhood in a more detailed manner. Her relationship with her father, king Janaka, who was a very sober and spiritual person, Sita’s forest stay with her husband and after that her lone stay, her connection and conversations with the women in Lanka, at the ‘Ashoka Vatika’, the sentiments that were shared amongst them. Also, depicted is her attachment with her sisters, with the trees in the forest, as she loved her life in forest, her bond with the mother earth.

This book has portrayed Sita in a fair and magnanimous way, along with restating the whole story of Ramayana.

‘I am not sure that I am a man,’ said Yuvanashva. ‘I have created life outside me as men do. But I have also created life inside me, as women do. What does that make me? Will a body such as mine fetter or free me?’ Among the many hundreds of characters who inhabit the Mahabharata, perhaps the world’s greatest epic and certainly one of the oldest, is Yuvanashva, a childless king, who accidentally drinks a magic potion meant to make his queens pregnant and gives birth to a son. This extraordinary novel is his story. It is also the story of his mother Shilavati, who cannot be king because she is a woman; of young Somvat, who surrenders his genitals to become a wife; of Shikhandi, a daughter brought up as a son, who fathers a child with a borrowed penis; of Arjuna, the great warrior with many wives, who is forced to masquerade as a woman after being castrated by a nymph; of Ileshwara, a god on full-moon days and a goddess on new-moon nights; and of Adi-natha, the teacher of teachers, worshipped as a hermit by some and as an enchantress by others. Building on Hinduism’s rich and complex mythology—but driven by a very contemporary sensibility—Devdutt Pattanaik creates a lush and fecund work of fiction in which the lines are continually blurred between men and women, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers. Confronted with such fluidity the reader is drawn into Yuvanashva’s struggle to be fair to all—those here, those there and all those in between.

Deepen Your Yoga Experience with the Origin Stories of sixty-four Common Asanas
Explore the stories from Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain mythology that nurtured the idea of yoga and shaped the development of its most iconic asanas. Learn how svana-asana (dog pose) is connected to Shiva, bhujanga-asana (cobra pose) was inspired by shape-shifting beings who live below the earth, and much more.
Many practitioners are unaware of yoga’s underlying philosophy, symbols, and rituals because modern teachers often emphasize the physical over the mental and spiritual components. Yoga Mythology brings this overlooked wisdom to light by recounting the lore behind more than sixty asanas, drawing attention to an Indic worldview based on the concepts of eternity, rebirth, liberation, and empathy. This book makes it easy and enjoyable to connect with yogic principles and expand the mental and spiritual aspects of your practice.