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DEVDUTT PATTANAIK BOOKS
(14-19)

14) Shyam: An Illustrated Retelling of the Bhagavata (2018)

"Standing in the water, shivering in embarrassment, the women looked down at the waters and saw Shyam’s reflected image. In the shimmering dark waters they saw his shiny lotus eyes. What was he seeking? A glimpse of their bodies, a glimpse of their secrets, access into their private worlds, power over their beings? He had stolen the doors of their inner courtyard, their refuge, and was asking them to step out. Did he not know any better? Womanhood was no game. Shame not a toy that once lost could be retrieved."

— Devdutt Pattanaik

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★★★

15) my Hanuman Chalisa

'Jai Hanuman
gyan gun sagar.
Jai Kapish
tihun lok ujagar.

Victory to Hanuman
who is the ocean of wisdom and virtue.
Victory to the divine amongst monkeys
who illuminates the three worlds.'

— Devdutt Pattanaik

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★★★

16) The Success Sutra: An Indian Approach to Wealth

'Animals take decisions all the time. Only humans have the option not to take decisions. We can outsource decision-making to the karta and stay a karya-karta.'

— Devdutt Pattanaik

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★★★

17) The Mythological Evolution of the Universe

'It is ironical that for all the value we give to the rational, life is primarily governed by the irrational. Love is not rational. Sorrow is not rational. Hatred, ambition, rage and greed are irrational. Even ethics, morals and aesthetics are not rational. They depend on values and standards which are ultimately subjective. What is right, sacred and beautiful to one group of people need not be right, sacred and beautiful to another group of people. Every opinion and every decision depends on the prevailing myth. Even perfection is a myth. There is no evidence of a perfect world, a perfect man or a perfect family anywhere on earth. Perfection, be it Rama Rajya or Camelot, exists only in mythology. Yet everyone craves for it. This craving inspires art, establishes empires, sparks revolutions and motivates leaders. Such is the power of myth.'

— Devdutt Pattanaik

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★★★

18) The Man Who Was a Woman and Other Queer Tales of ***** Lore

'The Hijras, the Jogappas, and even the Sakhis of India are known to indulge in same-sex activity. It is accepted as their way, even though some of them may have married women and fathered children. Perhaps the only way same-sex desire could express itself in traditional ***** society was through sexual transformation and gender metamorphosis. Perhaps only by becoming a "woman" or by perceiving a man in feminine terms, was a man allowed to indulge homo-erotic fantasies.'

— Devdutt Pattanaik

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★★★

19) Faith: 40 insights into Hinduism

'***** mythology does not have the concept of the devil because Hinduism
does not have the concept of evil, and it does not have the concept of evil because it is based on the idea of rebirth and karma. The concept of evil, and its embodiment, the devil (or shaitan), plays a significant part in Christian and ---c mythology, as they are based on the idea of one life, followed by an eternal afterlife.'

— Devdutt Pattanaik

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