Quotes from Devdutt Pattanaik

The word 'darshan' has a double meaning: view as well as worldview, sight as well as insight.

Those who believe in karma do not blame. They do not judge. They accept that humans live in a sea of consequences, over which there is limited control. So they accept every moment as it is supposed to be. They act without expectation. This is nishkama karma.

Within infinite myths lies the eternal truth, Who sees it all? Varuna has but a thousand eyes Indra a hundred And I, only two.

The journey from human to divine is to achieve conceptual clarity and appreciate the world as it is, while empathizing with how others perceive it.

In a way the Ramayana warns us about the dangers of excessive reliance on rules. It reveals the personality of a man who values rules above all else: he is predictable, dependable, but not very pleasant. This is balanced by Krishna who looks beyond rules at intent and, more importantly, affection. Ram seems cold and distant when compared to the lovable Krishna. Together they create Vishnu, the preserver of the world.

Belief in one life makes us want to change the world, control it or resign to the way things are. Belief in rebirth enables us to appreciate all three possibilities, without clinging to any.

When the reference point is aham, not atma, when the world is only Brahmanda not Prakriti, one is as deluded as one who is intoxicated.

According to the Veda, before all things came desire.

From desire come all problems. And all desires come from fear.

Stars, rocks and rivers are not sentient. They move, but do not act. They do not seek opportunities or avoid threats. They do not feel or think. If they do, we do not know, as they cannot express themselves, or at least we cannot fathom their responses. They do not seem to experience death, as they do not demonstrate any struggle for life. Even

As long as we seek validation from the world around us, we are entrapped by aham. As soon as we realize that all meaning comes from within, that it is we who make the world meaningful, we are liberated by atma.

They realized neither the war nor the victory was their own creation. Both were products of destiny. The

Wisdom is all about outgrowing hunger, be it physical, emotional, intellectual or social.

Travel, realized the wise men, was an important way to widen the outlook of otherwise inward-looking communities.

However, we rarely speak about the collateral damage: the death of Draupadi's children, Arjuna's son Abhimanyu and Bhima's son Ghatotkach; how Gandhari curses Krishna and his entire clan is eventually wiped out. Krishna does not complain. Even a dharmic war has collateral damage, which the gods accept without getting upset. Consequences are a part of life.

No lesson is permanent. Wisdom thus is always work in progress.

laws of karma: 'Every action has consequences. Why blame the instrument of karma for

The Pandavas won not because they were better warriors; they won because God wanted them to.

and outgrow hunger. One of the rishis I made fun of cursed me that since the

knowledge of the world is imperfect based on perceptions and false information.

The world that you perceive is actually a delusion (maya) based on your chosen measuring scale.

Without the cerebrum there would be no imagination, and hence no notion of God!

According to the code of dharma, women had only one duty: obey the father when unmarried, the husband when married and the son when widowed. For men, duty was determined by varna, station in society, and ashrama, the stage in life.

Only the truly enlightened know the world as it truly is; the rest construct a reality that comforts the