‘Her unbound hair reveals that she is still wild like Kali, but her nose-ring reveals she is domesticated like Gauri. The weapons in her multiple hands reveal a different kind of violence, one that is restrained unlike Kali’s, one that offers protection but can also be used to punish. She is Brahma’s defiant daughter, Vishnu’s protected and protective sister, and Shiva’s affectionate wife.’

In this festive season heralded by Navratri, when the entire country celebrates Durga or shakti, the primordial female form, renowned author Devdutt Pattanaik reveals the various aspects of the Goddess in ‘Durga’s Secret’ from his bestselling, 7 Secrets of the Goddess.

On this festival of Janmashtami or Gokulashtami, renowned author Devdutt Pattanaik in an extract from his book, 7 Secrets of Vishnu, reminds is that Krishna is an unusual God—most unconventional, whether as an endearing cowherd or the astute charioteer in the Mahabharata. ‘His mother is not his real mother, his beloved is not his wife…; his lovemaking is not really lovemaking; his war is not really war. There is always more than meets the eye. And so, only Krishna, of all the avatars, sports a smile, a mischievous, meaningful smile. There is always more than meets the eye, when Krishna is around.’

On this Ganesh Chathurti or Ganpati, as the festival is popularly known in Maharashtra, Devdutt Pattanaik in this extract from 7 Secrets of Shiva, narrates several stories about Ganesha’s birth -- the one in which Shiva beheads him; when Shiva and Shakti make love taking the form of elephants; when Shiva creates a child of his own image for His wife’s pleasure but since he looks too much like the father, Shakti replaces his head with that of an elephant. A perfect obeisance to a God who is worshipped across India as the ‘remover of obstacles’ during the ten-day festival which is celebrated with much gusto.

In this wonderful extract, bestselling author, Devdutt Pattanaik draws our attention to the story of Ram in its entirety—‘…the one who upheld the code of civilisation and refused to succumb to animal instincts despite every provocation.’ As the King of Ayodhya, the author draws our attention to the ‘controversial conclusion of the Ramayana’ : the abandonment of Sita after she was held captive by Ravana. Devdutt Pattanaik asks a very significant question about the complexity of dharma –‘ Is Ram the King of Ayodhya first or husband of Sita?

Even as the nation witnesses a tug-of-war apropos the building of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Ram’s Secret helps us understand what made Ram a righteous king and most importantly, an avatar of Vishnu.