Devdutt Pattanaik on Mythology, Brahmin backlash & growing up gay in India| Scroll Adda

As a prolific mythologist with more than 60 books, Devdutt Pattanaik has single-handedly created a new genre of writing in India. His thoughtful commentaries on India’s epics have allowed everyday people to think and reflect on their mythology. In this 1.5‑hour conversation with Shoaib Daniyal, Pattanaik explains why Indians might have a genius for mythology and why we all live in mythos. Many rationalists merge the idea of myth and fiction but Pattanaik argues that both are very different; myth can be thought of as an operating system for humans, he explains. Pattanaik says that he faced censure from Brahmins for writing about Hindu scriptures as a non‑Brahmin, and he also opens up about his own experiences of growing up gay and how that informed his view on mythology. Chapters: 1:45 – From MBBS to Mythology 7:00 – Indian mythology is based in rebirth 17:22 – How traditional clergy looks at him 19:10 – Mythology is not fiction 31:00 – Why Devdutt doesn’t like historians 35:15 – ‘All my life I was told being gay is unnatural’ 47:00 – Why I am not a post modernist 51:40 – The Indian genius for mythos 1:02:55 – India and caste 1:10:40 – Why Ram is mythology but Buddha is history? 1:15:40 – Was Ram vegetarian? 1:21:10 – Why Brahmins don’t like me 1:24:45 – History versus mythology