Quotes from Devdutt Pattanaik

In classical Sanskrit poetry, the laughter of women is responsible for the blooming of plants, which is why women were invited to the royal gardens in spring to sing and dance and play.

A world created based on judgement evokes rage, A world created by observation invokes insight.

In Buddhist literature, we are told the story of the hamsa who was shot dead in front of the Buddha by a hunter. The Buddha looked at the hunter and asked, 'Can you bring it back to life?' The hunter replied, 'No, I cannot.' The Buddha then said, 'If you cannot give life, what gives you the right to take life?

There are different types of action depending on the motivation behind them. The motivation may be self-preservation, self-propagation, self-actualization or self-realization.

No action exists in isolation. Every decision impacts the ecosystem. Karma is often mistaken for the adage, "As you sow, so shall you reap." The assumption then is that if we sow good deeds, we will reap good rewards. But who decides what action is good or bad? The desire to qualify an action, and its consequence, as good or bad, right or wrong, is a peculiarly human trait. Nature does not do so.

The gentle wisdom of Ram as he goes into exile is what transforms him from an ordinary hero into a divine being. He does not see himself as the victim. It is significant, however, that when Sita is later banished into the forest, the authors of the epic do not grant her the same gentle wisdom. They prefer visualizing her as victim, not sage. The gender bias continues even in the most modern writings.

Where there are no boundaries, there is no violation.

Demons are just humans we refuse to understand or tolerate.

Robert Oppenheimer infamously equated the nuclear bomb with Krishna's cosmic form.

Strength alone is not enough in this world; divine grace is needed.

Hindu thought, however, looks at truth quantitatively: everyone has access to a slice (bhaga); the one who sees all slices of truth is bhaga-van. Limited

Imagination helps us create concepts, which filter our sensory inputs and ultimately impact our emotional experience. Thus,

He of rajas-guna, will look upon the devata with the bhaav of a conditional follower (vaishya-varna) or a conditional leader (kshatriyavarna). He will always value the devata for his possessions and not for who he is. He will blame the devata for all his problems and resent his own dependence on the devata.

our breath resides within our flesh, our mind resides within our breath, our concepts reside within our mind and our emotions reside within our concepts. We can only see the flesh and breath. We can sense the emotions by the way they are expressed through the body and the breath. Sensations received by the mind are filtered by concepts to create emotions. Emotions

In Hindu art, a woman depicted holding a lotus bud is deemed a virgin; when she holds a lotus in bloom, she is regarded as mature and experienced.

Knowledge is like a floating log of wood that helps us stay afloat in the ocean of misery. To find the shore, we have to kick our legs and swim. No one can do that for us.

Every victim will, given a chance, turn victimizer.

In nature, nothing is contaminated. In culture, the polluted are cast out.

We may classify these ideas as secular or religious, rational or supernatural, value one over the other, but they are essentially creations of humans, by humans, for humans. They are artificial constructions, not natural phenomena. They have no independent existence outside humans.

Civilization comes into being when the small fish is rescued from the big fish; civilization comes to an end when the fish keeps growing bigger than its pond.

Love is about seeing: I see Ram, and Ram sees me. I want to be seen by Ram and Ram wants to be seen by me. I have shown Ram my vulnerabilities without trepidation and so has he. Ravana cannot love another because he sees no one, not even himself.

A banyan tree may offer shade and hold the promise of permanence, but it does not let even a blade of grass grow around it, nor does it provide life-sustaining fruit for man. The banana plant offers no shade but its rapid regenerative ability ensures it provides food to sustain the family. Snow may be still but cannot sustain life. To sustain life, it must melt, turn into a river and flow down the plains.

Should the urge to find a fixed single objective truth grip you, remind yourself: Within infinite myths lies an eternal truth Who sees it all? Varuna has but a thousand eyes Indra, a hundred You and I, only two.

Know the thought behind action