Are the illustrious clans of the Mahabharata from Surya Vansh or Chandra Vansh?
Which yuga does the Ramayana occur in, and does it occur only once?
What do haldi, kumkum, bhasm or chandan signify in a puja thali?
After the sensational response to Season 1 of EPIC Channel’s Devlok with Devdutt Pattanaik, Devdutt invited his viewers and readers to ask him questions about Hindu mythology, which he has answered over thirty thrilling episodes. Prepare to be educated, entertained and moved as Devdutt delves into the exhilarating variety of Hindu mythology.
In this volume, you will discover the difference between dhyan and darshan, aastik and nastik, Surya Vansh and Chandra Vansh. There are amusing stories about your favourite Hanuman and fascinating facts about the dark Vishnu avatars, Varaha and Narasimha. Learn why Lakshmi or Saraswati are always in conflict, and how women have the most intriguing characters in mythological tales.
Journey deeper into the magical world of Hindu mythology with Devdutt, and you’ll never want to turn back.
Archives: Books
The Book of Ram (Marathi)
He is Eka-vachani, a king who always keeps his word; Eka-bani, an archer who strikes his target with the first arrow; and Eka-patni, a husband who is eternally and absolutely devoted to a single wife. He is maryada purushottam Ram, the supreme upholder of social values, the scion of the Raghu clan, jewel of the solar dynasty, the seventh avatar of Vishnu, God who establishes order in worldly life. Hindus believe that in stressful and tumultuous times chanting Ram’s name and hearing his tale, the Ramayan, brings stability, hope, peace and prosperity. Reviled by feminists, appropriated by politicians, Ram remains serene in his majesty, the only Hindu deity to be worshipped as a king.
Da Vinci Code-Hindi
The curator of the Louvre has been murdered in cold blood. Alongside the body is a series of baffling ciphers, and it is left up to Robert Langdon, Harvard Professor of Symbology to crack these codes. Langdon and a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, are stunned to find a trail that leads to the works of Da Vinci and even further. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine code and quickly assemble the pieces of the puzzle, this invaluable historical truth will be lost forever…
Aarushi (Marathi)
It is the murder that haunts India with the simplest of questions: Who did it? A fourteen-year-old girl is killed in her comfortable suburban home along with the family servant under puzzling circumstances. Within weeks, her dentist parents are the prime suspects; within months, they are as good as exonerated; a year and half later, they are on trial. But did they do it? From the controversial police investigation to the media frenzy surrounding the Talwars and the protracted legal battle, every layer of the Aarushi case has mystery and metaphor. Now comes the ultimate retelling of the story. Avirook Sen has followed the court case, examined all the police documents and interviewed key players among investigators, lawyers, family and Aarushi s friends. In Aarushi he draws a superb portrait of the young woman, the aftermath of her death, and tries to answer the biggest question of all. Acute, gripping and brilliantly written Aarushi is a book that will take you into the heart of the murder that has gripped the nation.
Bringing Back Grandpa (Sequel to Flying with Grandpa)
‘Mamavaji’s old and gets confused.’
As his Grandpa gets ill and more confused, Xerxes’ life becomes correspondingly difficult. There are boys at school playing all kinds of mean tricks on him and his mother wants him to excel, as usual-but it is hard when his main ally Grandpa is not himself.
How is Xerxes going to cope with the different things people expect of him? Will he make peace in school? And most importantly, can he help Grandpa become better?
How to Thrive in a Family Business
What, according to you, is a family business? What are its benefits? Why do a majority of family businesses fail? Can a family business be turned to your advantage?
Set around the backdrop of an enterprise that has been around for over a hundred years – the Baidyanath Group, these questions, and many more, are answered in this book on what makes family businesses tick specially beyond the third generation.
As any business passes through generations and each generation passes through these various stages of life – Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha and Sanyas – the transition is not just difficult, but also painful, both financially and emotionally. The resultant losses of this generational paradigm are not only monetary, but also familial. Do family businesses suffer from elder son syndrome, or is early division seen as taboo? When to plan succession and should one part with ownership?
Surprisingly, the business behaves as per the behaviour of the generation that manages it. Given an identical situation, the decision would vary as per the generation taking the call. Life is all about the choices we make, our decision, if right, becomes a ‘virtue’ for the family and the business. If not right, it becomes a ‘sin’.
The book serves as a guide to what not to do by every member and every generation of a family. Identifying thirty actions which are the biggest sins that hinder the prosperity and continuity of any family business, Ajay Sharma, a third-generation businessman, weaves his own experiences with in-depth research and knowledge on the subject of family business. He believes that this book will be helpful to everyone – not just the stakeholders of family businesses, but also the millions who work with these family businesses, people who are the real lifeforce.
My First Words
This collection of 15 mini board books is more than just a set of adorable books for a child’s first library–they are also engaging learning tools! The format includes activities like stacking, sorting, counting, matching and identifying colours that encourage interactive learning of basic concepts and facilitate developmental skills in kids.
The box set comprises mini books with sturdy board pages and rounded corners that are perfect for tiny hands. With adorable illustrations and a modern design, this box set includes a variety of relevant topics like first words, animals, numbers, shapes, colours and more.
Packaged in a box with individual interior cells and a magnetic closure to keep the mini books—this innovative set of books is tailor-made for curious babies to explore the world around them!
KEY FEATURES AND LEARNING OUTCOMES:
· The format includes activities like stacking, sorting, counting, matching, and identifying colours that encourage interactive learning of basic concepts.
· With durable board pages, this box set is apt for readers 0 to 3 to help them grasp words and sounds and prepare them for kindergarten.
· This bright, handy box with a magnetic closure and interior compartments features 15 mini board books on a range of topics: Fruits, Pets, Sea Animals, Nature, Toys, Colours, Vegetables, Animals, Birds, Clothes, Numbers, Insects, Flowers, Weather, Shapes.
· Designed like a stacking block, each mini book has rounded corners and is created to withstand the wear and tear of a pre-schooler’s active lifestyle.
· Carefully researched, these books aim to build vocabulary through picture-word association for toddlers, pre-schoolers.
· Full of bright, colourful pictures to make learning easy, accessible, engaging and fun.
· Compactly packaged in a gorgeous and high-quality gift box with a magnetic closure makes it a perfect present for every toddler.
· A must for every library; in school or at home.
Jay
High above the sky stands Swarga, paradise, abode of the gods. Still above is Vaikuntha, heaven, abode of God. The doorkeepers of Vaikuntha are the twins, Jaya and Vijaya, both whose names mean ‘victory’. One keeps you in Swarga; the other raises you into Vaikuntha. In Vaikuntha there is bliss forever, in Swarga there is pleasure for only as long as you deserve. What is the difference between Jaya and Vijaya? Solve this puzzle and you will solve the mystery of the Mahabharata. In this enthralling retelling of India’s greatest epic, the Mahabharata, originally known as Jaya, Devdutt Pattanaik seamlessly weaves into a single narrative plots from the Sanskrit classic as well as its many folk and regional variants, including the Pandavani of Chattisgarh, Gondhal of Maharashtra, Terukkuttu of Tamil Nadu, and Yakshagana of Karnataka. Richly illustrated with over 250 line drawings by the author, the 108 chapters abound with little-known details such as the names of the hundred Kauravas, the worship of Draupadi as a goddess in Tamil Nadu, the stories of Astika, Madhavi, Jaimini, Aravan and Barbareek, the Mahabharata version of the Shakuntalam and the Ramayana, and the dating of the war based on astronomical data. With clarity and simplicity, the tales in this elegant volume reveal the eternal relevance of the Mahabharata, the complex and disturbing meditation on the human condition that has shaped Indian thought for over 3000 years.
The Girl Who Loved to Sing: Teejan Bai (Dreamers Series)
Before Teejan Bai became a world-renowned singer, she was a little girl who had to fight for her freedom to sing.
A delightfully illustrated short biography that will inspire young readers.
Sita (Hindi)
It is significant that the only character in Hindu mythology, a king at that, to be given the title of ekam-patni-vrata, devoted to a single wife, is associated with the most unjust act of abandoning her in the forest to protect family reputation. This seems a deliberate souring of the narrative, made even more complex by Ram’s refusal to remarry despite the pressure on royalty to produce an heir. The intention seems to be to provoke thought on notions of fidelity, property and self-image. And so mythologist and illustrator Devdutt Pattanaik narrates the Ramayan, drawing attention to the many oral, visual and written retellings composed in different times by different poets, each one trying to solve the puzzle in their own unique way. This book approaches Ram by speculating on Sita-her childhood with her father, Janak, who hosted sages mentioned in the Upanishads; her stay in the forest with her husband who had to be a celibate ascetic while she was in the prime of her youth; her interactions with the women of Lanka, recipes she exchanged, emotions they shared; her connection with the earth, her mother; her role as the Goddess, the untamed Kali as well as the demure Gauri, in transforming the stoic prince of Ayodhya into God.