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26 April 2014

Book Review: Myth=Mythya: Author Devdutt Pattanaik

 I was on the lookout for a new book to read. That is when I came across the book 'Myth=Mithya' authored by Dr.Pattanaik (again). This book is a treatise on Indian 'Mythosophy' (Philosophy throu Mythology). This book is divided into three parts, each part focusing on each of the main deity's (Trimurtis) in Hindu Mythology vis Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and their consorts Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati. 

According to the Hindu Mythology Brahma is the Creator of the universe, Vishnu is the Maintener of order and peace and Shiva is the Destroyer. For a story aficionado, this is a gold mine. For a seeker of Hindu Philosophy, he gets the philosophical perspectives brought out by these stories. The author seamlessly navigate between philosophical perspectives and appropriate stories. 

The beauty of Indian Mythology is that despite their separate roles, there is a close interaction between the Triumvirate.  You can see each one of the three Gods helping the other in some occasions and punishing them in other occasions. For example, Brahma the creator created a beautiful woman to help extend mankind through reproduction. Since she was created by Brahma, she was his daughter. As is the custom, she wanted to do a 'Pradakshinam' (walking around elders with folded hands, to get their blessings.) around Brahma. But Brahma became so besotted with her beauty she wanted to keep looking at her always. To achieve this he developed heads facing each direction to ensure that the woman he created is never out of his eyesight. 

Unable to withstand Brahma's lustfilled look, the woman started flying away. To see her while she was flying, Brahma developed a fifth head on the top and started following her wherever she went. Finally, having panicked by Brahma's incessant stalking, the woman prayed to Lord Shiva who came and cut off Brahma's fifth head, thereby bringing Brahma to his senses...

The book talks about 'Sathya' (the eternal truth) and 'Mithya' (truth within a specific framework). Unlike the other religions where there is a clear distinction between Good and Bad or Sin and Virtue and even God and Devil, Indian mythology do not have any real parallel. There is nothing called 'Lie' in Hindu Mythology. As per Hinduism 'Lie' is only a particular view of the truth within a specific framework. 'Mythya' is not 'Lie', it is truth from one's perspectives. 

The different perspectives that cloud a person's view of the absolute truth (Satya) is / are known as 'Maya'. Each one of us has our view of the world, created by our unique cloud, unique perspective, unique Maya. What a seeker of truth does is to slowly remove these layer of Maya to move towards the ultimate truth. 

The book also talks about the powerful liquid that lies in our body. It is the semen and it can flow either in downward direction or in upward direction. When it flows downward, it is called 'Rasa' and helps in procreation. The upward flowing liquid is called 'Tapa' and this help move the liquid from your lower hip towards our brain. Enlightened people achieve the power of 'Tapa' through 'Tapasya'.

One final word about the concept of Equity and Debt in Indian Philosophy. Every act or deed of ours lead to one of the four outcomes: Increase Equity, Increase Debt, Decrease Equity and Decrease Debt. At the end of the day, your balance sheet will be prepared and you will either go to 'Swarga (Heaven)' or 'Naraka (Hell)' based on the relative value of your Equity and Debt.

The book is not as boring as my review above suggests. This book is a treasure trove of Mythological Stories. Many stories. Fascinating stories. Most of them I had read as a child. Story of demons Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu, of how Vishnu as Mohini helped kill a demon who was threatening to kill Shiva, the Story of the power of Shiva, the power of Vishnu and the Power of Brahma,  the story of Bali and Sugriva.....

The list goes on.

Mr.Pattanaik has tried to maintain the balance between Stories and lessons thereof. And that is what makes Indian Mythology so fascinating. 

At the end of reading this book, one is tempted to ask for more, to demand more of the ocean that is Hindu Mythology and the associated philosophy...

Book Review: 99 Thoughts on Ganesha: Author: Devdutt Pattanaik

Yesterday, while walking around in my home, frustrated at having nothing to do, I cast my eye on my bookshelf. There were a few books that I had purchased recently with the idea of reading them later. I picked the book '99 Thoughts on Ganesha' by Dr.Devdutt Pattanaik. It is a reasonably good read I must say. Some parts of the book is fascinating and inspiring while other parts of the book are plain ordinary. There is a lot of repetition in the book, for example, early in the book the author tells the story of how Parasurama cut off one of the tusks of Ganesha, and soon enough, as  the author mention Ganesha's tusks, I was like 'Not Parasurama Story again...'.

For those who do not know, Ganesha is the elephant headed god who is worshipped in India before the start of any auspicious functions. He is the creator and hence remover of obstacles. It is believed that before we start any good deed, we should start by offering prayers to Ganesha.

How did Ganesha get his Elephant Head? The story is that once while Parvati was taking a bath in a pond, she asked Ganesha to stand guard outside and watch over her clothes and prevent anyone from entering. While she was bathing, Shiva came there. Ganesha did not allow Shiva to enter the pond premises and Shiva in his fury cut off Ganesha's head. 

Once Parvati came to know of this she was inconsolable. She demanded that Shiva bring back the child. Shiva asked his Ganas to go northward and bring the head of the first animal that they see. They brought the head of an Elephant and Shiva fitted the Elephant head in Ganesha's body.

Fascinating aspect of Ganesha is about how Ganesha is a benevolent deity in India and a malevolent deity in our neighboring country Nepal. In India Ganesha is 'Vignaharta (Remover of Obstacles)' and in Nepal Ganesha is 'Vignakartha (Creator of Obstacles)'. Another aspect of Karthikeya ('Murugan' in South India) is that in South India he is a married god while in North India he is considered to a warlord whom women dread and do not pray to.

Another fascinating aspect is regarding why Ganesha is named 'Morya' in Maharashtra. There are two possible reasons. One is that peacock (called 'More' in Hindi) is the vehicle of Ganesha. Another is that the predominant temple of Ganesha in Maharashtra is the temple of Sri Moreshwar (Mayureshwar) temple in Moregaon. As a non-maharashtrian, I always wondered why Ganesha was called 'Morya'.

Now I know.

Did you know that in parts of US, they celebrate 'Pancha Ganapati Puja' for five days between December 21 and December 25? This is because last week of December is the period of Christmas for Christians and Hanukkah for Jews. Since all the children will have something to celebrate during this period, they started this puja during that period so that Hindu Children can also enjoy the holidays. During this period, on each day, Ganesha is bedecked with different colours starting with Golden Yellow, through Royal Blue, Ruby Red, Emerald Green and finally Brilliant Orange...

Fascinating. Isn't it?

With no TV and no Computer.....

....it is very surprising how much you can get done.

I don't have TV in my house. I stay alone in Mumbai and have decided not to purchase a TV, the reason being that I am eternally hopeful of coming back to Bangalore and I think TV will become a liability.

You can't sell it off without losing a lot of money, you know.

There is another reason I don't have a TV. I leave home early and reach home late. I work 6 days a week and whenever I have a weekend off, I travel to Bangalore.

So no time for TV in Mumbai, if you see what I mean.

But that is not what this post is about.

I normally spent a lot of time on the internet. As it happens, it was a holiday yesterday and laptop conked off sometime in the afternoon. I was like caged animal. With no laptop, I did not ken what to do.

And that is when I discovered books. In my house. Those which I hadn't read. I had books lying around that I hadn't read.

Can you imagine?

I like to think that I am an avid reader. I have read a lot of books and I enjoy reading them. That I have not read some good books recently I attribute to the fact that I don't have time. Besides, don't I read articles in the internet? I am not getting enough reading from the net?

I may be an 'avid' reader who hasn't read books recently, but I definitely am an 'avid' buyer of books. There is a small shop near my office and every time I walk in front of that shop, I am drawn to it like ants to shgar and invariably end up buying a book or two, more like two.

Yesterday, while walking around in my home, frustrated at having nothing to do, I cast my eye on my bookshelf. There were a few books that I had purchased recently with the idea of reading them later. I picked the book '99 Thoughts on Ganesha' by Dr.Devdutt Pattanaik. It is a reasonably good read I must say. Some parts of the book is fascinating and inspiring while other parts of the book are plain ordinary. There is a lot of repetition in the book, for example, early in the book the author tells the story of how Parasurama cut off one of the tusks of Ganesha, and soon enough, as  the author mention Ganesha's tusks, I was like 'Not Parasurama Story again...'.

Fascinating aspect of Ganesha is about how Ganesha is a benevolent deity in India and a malevolent deity in our neighboring country Nepal. In India Ganesha is 'Vignaharta (Remover of Obstacles)' and in Nepal Ganesha is 'Vignakartha (Creator of Obstacles)'. Another aspect of Karthikeya ('Murugan' in South India) is that in South India he is a married god while in North India he is considered to a warlord whom women dread and do not pray to.

Another fascinating aspect is regarding why Ganesha is named 'Morya' in Maharashtra. There are two possible reasons. One is that peacock (called 'More' in Hindi) is the vehicle of Ganesha. Another is that the predominant temple of Ganesha in Maharashtra is the temple of Sri Moreshwar (Mayureshwar) temple in Moregaon. As a non-maharashtrian, I always wondered why Ganesha was called 'Morya'.

Now I know.

Did you know that in parts of US, they celebrate 'Pancha Ganapati Puja' for five days between December 21 and December 25? This is because last week of December is the period of Christmas for Christians and Hanukkah for Jews. Since all the children will have something to celebrate during this period, they started this puja during that period so that Hindu Children can also enjoy the holidays. During this period, on each day, Ganesha is bedecked with different colours starting with Golden Yellow, through Royal Blue, Ruby Red, Emerald Green and finally Brilliant Orange...

Fascinating. Isn't it?

I am a voracious reader. Once I start reading a book, I complete it fast. In about 2 hours I had finished the first book and much like the proverbial Genii, I was on the lookout for a new book to read. That is when I came across the book 'Myth=Mithya' authored by Dr.Pattanaik (again). This book is a treatise on Indian 'Mythosophy' (Philosophy throu Mythology). This book is divided into three parts, each part focusing on each of the main deity's (Trimurtis) in Hindu Mythology vis Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and their consorts Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati. 

According to the Hindu Mythology Brahma is the Creator of the universe, Vishnu is the Maintener of order and peace and Shiva is the Destroyer. For a story aficionado, this is a gold mine. For a seeker of Hindu Philosophy, he gets the philosophical perspectives brought out by these stories. The author seamlessly navigate between philosophical perspectives and appropriate stories. 

The beauty of Indian Mythology is that despite their separate roles, there is a close interaction between the Triumvirate.  You can see each one of the three Gods helping the other in some occasions and punishing them in other occasions. For example, Brahma the creator created a beautiful woman to help extend mankind through reproduction. Since she was created by Brahma, she was his daughter. As is the custom, she wanted to do a 'Pradakshinam' (walking around elders with folded hands, to get their blessings.) around Brahma. But Brahma became so besotted with her beauty she wanted to keep looking at her always. To achieve this he developed heads facing each direction to ensure that the woman he created is never out of his eyesight. 

Unable to withstand Brahma's lustfilled look, the woman started flying away. To see her while she was flying, Brahma developed a fifth head on the top and started following her wherever she went. Finally, having panicked by Brahma's incessant stalking, the woman prayed to Lord Shiva who came and cut off Brahma's fifth head, thereby bringing Brahma to his senses...

The book talks about 'Sathya' (the eternal truth) and 'Mithya' (truth within a specific framework). Unlike the other religions where there is a clear distinction between Good and Bad or Sin and Virtue and even God and Devil, Indian mythology do not have any real parallel. There is nothing called 'Lie' in Hindu Mythology. As per Hinduism 'Lie' is only a particular view of the truth within a specific framework. 'Mythya' is not 'Lie', it is truth from one's perspectives. 

The different perspectives that cloud a person's view of the absolute truth (Satya) is / are known as 'Maya'. Each one of us has our view of the world, created by our unique cloud, unique perspective, unique Maya. What a seeker of truth does is to slowly remove these layer of Maya to move towards the ultimate truth. 

The book also talks about the powerful liquid that lies in our body. It is the semen and it can flow either in downward direction or in upward direction. When it flows downward, it is called 'Rasa' and helps in procreation. The upward flowing liquid is called 'Tapa' and this help move the liquid from your lower hip towards our brain. Enlightened people achieve the power of 'Tapa' through 'Tapasya'.

One final word about the concept of Equity and Debt in Indian Philosophy. Every act or deed of ours lead to one of the four outcomes: Increase Equity, Increase Debt, Decrease Equity and Decrease Debt. At the end of the day, your balance sheet will be prepared and you will either go to 'Swarga (Heaven)' or 'Naraka (Hell)' based on the relative value of your Equity and Debt.

The book is not as boring as my review above suggests. This book is a treasure trove of Mythological Stories. Many stories. Fascinating stories. Most of them I had read as a child. Story of demons Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu, of how Vishnu as Mohini helped kill a demon who was threatening to kill Shiva, the Story of the power of Shiva, the power of Vishnu and the Power of Brahma,  the story of Bali and Sugriva.....

The list goes on.

Mr.Pattanaik has tried to maintain the balance between Stories and lessons thereof. And that is what makes Indian Mythology so fascinating. 

At the end of reading this book, one is tempted to ask for more, to demand more of the ocean that is Hindu Mythology and the associated philosophy...