Myth=Mithya A Handbook of Hindu Mythology

Dr Devdutt Pattnaik describes himself on his website as a medical doctor by education, a leadership consultant by profession, and a mythologist by passion. So what exactly does he do? He is employed as the Chief Belief Officer of the Future Group. If you understand mythology, you can decode everything very easily. He uses this premise to decode leadership behavior, brands, advertisements ... you name it. He illustrates his articles, books and his website liberally with his characteristic drawings - which I must admit are fabulous and have a distinct style.Myth=Mithya: A Handbook of Hindu Mythology is a attempt by Dr Devdutt Pattanaik to decode the complex pantheon of Hindu gods. He says while Hindus believe there is one God (with a capital G), there 330 million gods for every caste, profession, village and even for your specific household. There are gods in minerals, trees, animals and books. Understanding this complex web is key to understanding and decoding our beliefs, values and behavior.Deal & Kennedy (1982) had identified 5 elements to understand corporate cultures. That included three elements such as heroes, rites & rituals, values and the myths and legends of an organization that help us decode its culture.Think of Devdutt's book as a way to understand the mythology that shapes the way Indians behave. Even though the book is about Hindu mythology, it will help people understand the social beliefs that one sees being enacted all around.  Myths are subjective truths expressed through stories, symbols and rituals. Devdutt believes that the power of these truths can be leverage by people in business, management, and life once they start understanding the myth.When asked what is the purpose of an organization? Devdutt answers that it is LSD ie Lakshmi (the Hindu Goddess of wealth); Saraswati (Goddess of learning) and Durga (Goddess of shakti ie power). Translated in modern terms, the purpose of the organization is to help the employee create wealth, learn new skills and be empowered. In the absence of any one of the three, the relationship between the employer and employee will not be a vibrant one.While Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the nurturer) and Shiva (the destroyer) form the Holy Trinity of Hindu gods, Vishnu alone has had ten Avatars (translation: Incarnations). The seventh and eighth incarnations of Vishnu were Rama (the hero of the epic Ramayana) and Krishna (the hero of the epic Mahabharata). The other eight avatars or incarnations were in the form of fish (matsya), tortoise (kurma), boar (varah); man-lion (narasimha), Rama with an axe (parashuram), buddha and kalki. The kalki-avatar is yet to appear. Some sects view Krishna's brother as another avatar while removing Buddha from the list. Then there are goddesses - some in benign form like Gauri or Annapoorna and some like Kali who destroy.Does this book put order into this chaotic picture? It does, but only partly. To put it in an organizational context, it looks eventually like the org chart of a highly matrixed organization. We all know how the majority of mortals find it hard to understand the matrix. Hindu mythology is a lot like that - only more complex.The piece I enjoyed the most was the comparison of the two epics Ramayana & Mahabharata and why sometimes they seem to contradict each other. Devdutt explains that while Ramayana was set in an earlier age Treta Yuga while the story of Mahabharata was set in Dwapar Yuga.  So the norms of morality also were different.Hence in Ramayana, the hero Rama always followed the letter and spirit of law and was all about doing the right thing even at the cost of oneself - the Rules that govern behavior ie the letter of the law and Principles ie the spirit of the law that governs belief. The villain of Ramayana was Ravana who violated the Rules as well as Principles. The hero of Mahabharata, Krishna would bend the Rules but never violate the Principle. The villain of Mahabharata was Duryodhana would follow the Rules but violates the Principles of Dharma. Sounds like the typical 2x2 matrix that B Schools love to use.Devdutt's book is full of little insights and observations. For instance if the open palms of the god or goddess is pointing towards the earth, then the mortals are being granted prosperity. If the open palm points to the sky, the mortals are being given reassurance (see photo of Ganesha).The pantheon is explained through myths and those are the most enjoyable part of the book. All the stories are told in a contemporary framework. He describes Mahabharata as a property dispute between cousins :)I loved the book and for those who claim to be experts in Hindu mythology, I can assure you there will be lots of little stories that you will hear for the first time (I certainly did) and learn about the fascinating narratives that are there in every page. A great resource to understand the complexity of Hinduism and why Indians view life the way they do. And then there is one nagging question - are these not religious stories? Can culture be separated from religion? Can there be Indian values separate from Hindu or Sikh or Muslim values? "The ugly truth is – there are no universal values", says the author, in a recent article called Outsourcing the Storytelling Grandmom (click here to read)The book Myth=Mithya is insightful to say the least. To untangle the complex spiderweb of the Hindu gods, goddesses, their consorts, avatars, gandharva etc is a task no less demanding than the 12 tasks that the mythical Greek hero Hercules had to perform (click here for the list) -  impossible for anyone else to accomplish. Devdutt's task was a bit like that. And I daresay he did it well.Recommended reading-------------You can buy his books in India through Flipkart <click here>Or on Amazon <click here>