Ramayan & Mahabharat Are Not About Morality | Devdutt Pattanaik on The India Story

What in dharma there isn’t “right vs wrong,” but accountability—a running balance sheet of paap–punya (debit–credit) across lives?

In this gripping conversation, Devdutt Pattanaik and Vikram Chandra unpack how Ramayan and Mahabharat actually work, why we overrate the Gita (a modern phenomenon), and how rebirth reframes justice, success, parenting, and power.

You’ll hear why “Lakshman Rekha” was a boundary for Ravan, not Sita, what dharma truly demands (help the weak; don’t exploit them), how Indian festivals map to the monsoon (and why wars happened in autumn), and why contentment is a technique, not a destination—without it, no leader can build a truly prosperous, peaceful society.

Chapters:
00:00 – Introduction: Mythology as India’s Operating System
06:40 – Do We Overrate the Gita? Why It’s a Modern Obsession
11:24 – Paap & Punya: The Indian Accounting of Rebirth
15:12 – Right or Wrong? Context Matters in Indian Thought
17:35 – What Is Dharma? Protecting the Small Fish from the Big Fish
22:40 – How Children Actually Learn Mythology
27:11 – Are Kids Overexposed to Angry Gods?
28:27 – India’s Unique “Accounting System” of Karma
29:14 – A Culture Where Even Gods Don’t Give Guarantees
31:00 – Why Vegetarians Are Still Taking Life
35:47 – The Monsoon Calendar: Why Indian Wars Happened in Autumn
42:27 – Contentment vs Hunger: The Key to a Good Society
44:31 – Can You Build an Empire Without Contentment?
47:24 – Jain Wisdom: Nothing Is Yours to Keep, It’s Debt
48:53 – You Don’t Give Knowledge, You Take Knowledge
51:45 – A Classroom Anecdote on Teaching Mythology
53:07 – Why Sita Is Misunderstood
54:28 – The Truth About Lakshman Rekha: It Was for Ravan

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