Quotes by Devdutt Pattanaik

“Animal fight to defend their bodies. Humans curse to defend their imagination of themselves.”

“Then be human. Let go and move on. They who hurt you cannot expand their mind. But surely you can.”

“Only the ignorant think they alone are responsible for an outcome”

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

“that which deludes you to be unhappy can be overpowered by another delusion that causes greater unhappiness”

“Every human creates his own imagined version of the world, and of himself. Every human is therefore Brahma, creator of his own aham.Aham Brahmasmi, I am Brahma. Tat tvam asi, so are you.”

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

“If you don't have imagination, you stop being human; animals don't have imagination; Alzheimer's is the death of imagination.”

“Medical training taught me the art of breaking down the complex maze of stories, symbols and rituals into clear systems. You could say that it helped me figure out the anatomy and physiology of myt...”

“Mythology is a subjective truth. Every culture imagines life a certain way.”

“Fear is a constant, and faith is a choice. Fear comes from karma, from faith arises dharma.”

“Sometimes, you can see more than me, but you pretend to know less so that I dont feel intimidated by you. I do the same for you. We do not feel superior when the other is vulnerable; or inferior wh...”

“For centuries, pilgrims have travelled to Ayodhya identifying it as a birthplace of Ram. But the exact location is a subject of dispute and political turmoil. Ever since colonial times, Hinduism ha...”

“Only the ignorant think they alone are responsible for an outcome”

“Sometimes, you can see more than me, but you pretend to know less so that I don’t feel intimidated by you. I do the same for you. We do not feel superior when the other is vulnerable; or inferior w...”

“The Sanskrit word ‘maya’ refers to all things that can be measured. Human understanding of the world is limited, hence measurable, hence maya. To believe this maya is truth is delusion. Beyond maya...”

“The Goddess is Maya, embodiment of all delusions. She is Shakti, personification of energy. She is Adi, primal, as ancient and boundless as the soul...The embodiment of Adi- Maya-Shakti – Durga is ...”

“The Tantrik approach to self-realization is different from the Vedic approach. The former looks upon the Goddess as Shakti, energy, to be experienced while the latter looks upon the Goddess as Maya...”

“Though in Bengal and Orissa, some say, Alakshmi is visualized as an owl seated beside Lakshmi, Alakshmi is a secret goddess, invisible to all. The only way to see her is to have Saraswati, goddess ...”

“The standard trope in modern historical studies seems to be that Hindu temples were destroyed not only by Muslim rulers but also by Hindu rulers as part of establishing their authority. It disregar...”