Quotes from Devdutt Pattanaik

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

Yagna is the outer journey, while yoga is the inner journey that Arjuna has to undertake.

So it has been before. So it will be again.

Who decides what justice is? How does one end this unending spiral of revenge where everyone believes they are right and their opponents are wrong?

Only when humans realize that they have been blessed with the intellectual wherewithal to outgrow animal needs and fears, will they truly evolve and discover their potential.

We knot our imagination to fear to creat aham. Tapasya and yagna are two tools that can help us unknot the mind, outgrow fear and discover atma, our true self.

Life is difficult and people are imperfect. Unable to cope with the vagaries of this world, everyone makes mistakes. True love is the ability to love people despite their mistakes.

Neither death nor wisdom has a full stop. There are only commas-no destinations, only waiting rooms.

When we stop loving, we embrace adharma. We judge, condemn and reject people. Invalidate them in hatred. We stop being generous. Like the Kauravas, we become mean-minded, petty, stingy, clingy and possessive. Or like the Pandavas, we become clueless, confused, in search of direction and wisdom. We forget the path to Madhuvan. We entrap ourselves in Kurukshetra.

The point of human life is to travel from ignorance to wisdom. In ignorance there is fear. In wisdom there peace and tranquillity.

Kali is the forest. She is wild. Gauri is the garden. She is domestic. Kali stays outside the house. Gauri comes inside the house. That is why what is outside is scary and what is inside is not.

Brahmins were essentially transmitters and stewards of Vedic hymns and rituals, not its interpreters or owners. Over time, however, they used their exalted position to dominate society and claim entitlements. It was an irony of history that those who carried knowledge of how to expand the mind failed to expand their own minds, and chose the common path of domination instead.

The aim is to get as close to nature as possible, shattering the tyranny of cultural values and judgements. In the Vedic approach, self-realization has to be achieved by detached adherence to cultural values and judgements, social roles

Arjuna, there is nothing in the three worlds that I need to do or gain. Yet I work, for if I don't, others won't, and I will be the cause of confusion and destruction of all that has been created.—Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 3, verses 22 to 24 (paraphrased).

Arjuna, to expand your mind, use intelligence to draw your mind away from sensuality, so that there is no self-obsession, aggression, arrogance, desire, anger, possessiveness, attraction or repulsion. You are content in solitude, consuming little, expressing little, connected with the world and aware.—Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 18, verses 51 to 53 (paraphrased).

A hermit seeks meaning for himself but only a king can create a world that enables everyone to find meaning. Choose

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

There is great joy in satisfying oneself,' said Hanuman. 'But there is greater joy when we satisfy ourselves by satisfying others. Still greater joy when we do not need satisfaction. And even more joy, when despite not needing satisfaction, we provide satisfaction to others.

You may value me for what I have and what I do. But I am not what I have or what I do. If you love me, focus on who I am: my hungers and my fears, and my potential to focus on who you are.

the law clearly stated that a man with a physical defect could not be king.

God does not interfere with fate; he simply helps man cope with it.

Accept that infinite occurrences of the universe cannot be fathomed by the finite human mind.

Arjuna, you have control over your action alone, not the fruits of your action. So do not be drawn to expectation, or inaction.

the Kali yuga will dawn. A new age will dawn where nothing will be as it was. Only a quarter of the values instituted by Prithu at the dawn of civilization will survive. Man will live for pleasure, children will abandon responsibility, women will be like men, men like women. Humans will copulate like beasts. Power will be respected, justice abandoned, sacrifice forgotten and love ridiculed. The wise will argue for the law of the jungle. Every victim will, given a chance, turn victimizer.