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DEVDUTT PATTANAIK BOOKS

(9-13)

9) Shikhandi: and Other Tales They Don't Tell You (2014)

"***** mythology makes constant references to queerness, the idea that questions notions of maleness and femaleness. There are stories of men who become women, and women who become men, of men who create children without women, and women who create children without men, and of creatures who are neither this, nor that, but a little bit of both, like the makara (a combination of fish and elephant) or the yali (a combination of lion and elephant). There are also many words in Sanskrit, Prakrit and Tamil such as kliba, napumsaka, mukhabhaga, sanda, panda, pandaka, pedi that suggest a long familiarity with queer thought and behaviour. It is common to either deny the existence of such fluidity in our stories, or simply locate them in the realm of the supernatural or point to law books that, besides endorsing patriarchy and casteism, also frown upon queer behaviour."

— Devdutt Pattanaik

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★★★

10) 7 Secrets of the Goddess (2014)

"Lakshmi massages Vishnu’s feet. Is this male domination? Kali stands on Shiva’s chest. Is this female domination? Shiva is half a woman. Is this gender equality? Why then is Shakti never half a man?"

— Devdutt Pattanaik

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★★★

11) 99 Thoughts on Ganesha (2015)

 "The intellectual approach to Ganesha is called gyan yoga. The emotional approach to Ganesha is called bhakti yoga. And a mechanical, ritualistic, approach to Ganesha is called karma yoga."

— Devdutt Pattanaik

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★★★

12) My Gita (2015)

"Only the ignorant think they alone are responsible for an outcome"

— Devdutt Pattanaik

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★★★

13) Devlok with Devdutt Pattanaik (2016)

 "Today we address both as Bhagavan, but deva and Bhagavan are two different entities, like junior and senior manager. The deva is junior, Bhagavan is senior. Devas are related to all things of the external realm, like Surya, Chandra, stars, indriyan, body, wealth. Bhagavan is associated with the mann, atma, the internal world."

— Devdutt Pattanaik

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