: Why Devdutt Pattanaik has attempted an Indian retelling of Jewish, Christian and Islamic lore #IndiaNEWS Relevance Why should there be an Indian retelling of this lore? The primary reason is to draw

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Why Devdutt Pattanaik has attempted an Indian retelling of Jewish, Christian and Islamic lore #IndiaNEWS
Relevance Why should there be an Indian retelling of this lore? The primary reason is to draw attention to the structural difference between monotheistic lore on the one hand, and lore based on the doctrine of rebirth that informs Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, faiths that originated in India on the other. This difference is the root of many unnecessary misunderstandings that continue to plague the study of non-monotheistic belief systems around the world. This difference is clearly demonstrated by the following folktale. Once, a Jain monk narrated the epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. But his retelling was different from the retelling of the Hindus. So the local king demanded an explanation. The Jain monk said the world goes through cycles of creation and destruction. In each cycle, the tale recurs, with minor differences. In one cycle, Ram killed Ravana and in another, Lakshman killed Ravana. In one cycle, the Mahabharata war is fought between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, in another, the war is fought between Krishna and Jarasandha. Hindus speak of one cycle, and Jains of the other. The doctrine of rebirth thus enables co-existence of multiple truths. This is not possible in monotheistic faiths that state you live only once, and...Read more

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