In Indian mythology, a woman’s body is a temple, a chaste place. An imposition at the outset transformed into an account of resistance in the past, present and future lives of women as mankind progressed. Thus, falsifying the claim that women were subservient to male hegemony.

‘Sati and Savitri’ by Devdutt Pattnaik revisits such myths through female bodies, thereby questioning the universal worldview of chastity, duty, disobedience and sacrifice tied to female bodies.

Myths are common in every culture. But what are myths? Myths explain why a particular culture is the way it is. You may say that myths are the bricks upon which a civilisation is built. Essentially, it encapsulates belief systems and values characteristic of a culture one belongs to. It extends meaning to various natural phenomena around us to establish order, which otherwise would have been chaotic to comprehend.

Stories give us a sense of being. It enables us to understand our place in this big world. Every culture has a mythology of its own. Mythology is derived from the Greek mythos, meaning story-of-the-people, and logos for word or speech. Sir G.L. Gomme said, myths explain “the science of the pre-scientific age.” Myths are usually associated with deities, rites and socially validated truths in the form of social customs to justify an institution in place. According to Carl Jung, “myth is a necessary aspect of the human psyche which needs to find meaning and order in the world.”

Tales of defiant and resilient women are divided into 12 chapters.

Savitri becomes a wife who rescues Satyavan. Sati is a chaste wife. Urvashi rejects matrimony and motherhood. Gargi, a woman, outwits men. Shiva embraces Shakti. Fortune is Chanchala. Saraswati is a goddess of knowledge. Queen Meenakshi of Madurai and Kanyakumari are assertive of their desires.

You meet several women and men from the pages of popular Indian mythology, only to see them in a different light. There are stories within a story told from multiple angles. Women’s lives are varied and depicted in various moods.

It’s a must-read for those with a penchant for unravelling myths and understanding the symbols around feminism and patriarchy.

Studying these aspects of myths as the context to understand the works of India’s bestselling mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik, we find that mythologies give credence to belief structures. Mythologies deal with themes of supernatural traditions and explain the cultural traits. It tells us about the creation of life on Earth, like man or animals. It also tells us why man and animal are different. Why are there rainbows, and why does the season change? Paintings in the caves or sculptures are evidence enough that belief structures pre-existed the written forms. Mythology, as we know it today, was the religion of the past. Stories hold power from the scriptures. They comfort and direct. It provides a sense of unity, which in turn strengthens and protects the like-minded community.

Myths have been grouped into three categories: 1) etiological, 2) historical, and 3) psychological. Etiological myths are best understood as an origin story. For example, Thor’s chariot is thunder in Norse mythology. Brahma is the creator; Vishnu is the preserver, and Shiva’s tandava has been interpreted apocalyptically in Hindu mythology. Historical myths depict events from the past that become a moral compass for the followers of a particular culture. For example, in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna addresses Arjuna’s moral dilemma, Homer’s Iliad depicts the Siege of Troy, and so on. Psychological myths focus on man’s need to balance his inner consciousness with the outside world. Therefore, in the journey myths of Virgil’s Aeneas and Homer’s Odyssey, the hero discovers his true identity and purpose. It is a journey from known (his previous self) to the unknown (his new self).

To sum up: “The purpose of a myth was to provide the hearer with a truth which the audience then interpreted for themselves within the value system of their culture.” Myth has its manifestation everywhere: Literature, art, social norms, our dreams, our way of thinking, and such others.