Ahimsa : 100 Reflections on the Harappan Civilization

by Devdutt Pattanaik

272 pages, Hardcover

Published November 30, 2024

About the author

Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik (born December 11, 1970) is an Indian physician turned leadership consultant, mythologist and author whose works focus largely on the areas of myth, mythology, and also management. He has written a number of books related to Hindu mythology, including Myth = Mithya: A Handbook of Hindu Mythology, a novel, The Pregnant King, and Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata (2010).
He is the Chief Belief Officer of Future Group, one of India’s largest retailers, bringing the wisdom of Indian mythology into Indian business, especifically in human resource management. He also writes a column for the newspaper MID DAY.
He has also written a novel based on a tale from the Mahabharata titled 'The Pregnant King' published by Penguin Books India

Reviews

[Smriti Sawhney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished this book, and now I’m even more fascinated by the Harappan Civilization — or rather, the Indus Valley Civilization.

What amazed me the most was realizing how much of the Harappan way of life still reflects in us today. From the seals depicting their lifestyle to their systems of living, trading, and organizing society, we continue to carry traces of them within our modern lives.

The book is beautifully divided into five broad sections:

• Mythology — exploring how we can interpret the lives and beliefs of the Harappans.
• Resources — depicting the importance of trade, livelihood, and economic systems in their civilization.
• Knowledge — showing how their minds worked, how they evolved, and how advanced they truly were.
• Standardization — taking us deeper into the later Harappan phase, which is more commonly discussed today.
• People — portraying how humans lived, married, built communities, and even how they were buried.

I honestly cannot express my love for this book in words. As a girl who has always been deeply intrigued by the Harappan Civilization, I’m truly grateful to the author for writing this book and giving us such meaningful knowledge and insights.

[Yamini]

Anything he writes - I am going to read it!

This book drips information into you like a saline bottle attached to veins (slowly, constantly and at a pace where the reader has the chance to absorb it all).

Here's all I loved in this book:

• Differentiating the opinions of Bards and Historians
• One's patriarchal gaze is difficult to shed, even for archaeologists - adding to our own biases
• Besides Harappan, I also got immense insights about Sumerians too
• Talking about our mysterious river Saraswati
• The classifications of mantra, tantra, yantra
• The presence of pyro-technology

Now, the book does mention a disclaimer at the beginning that these are not facts but opinions. Yet I am motivated to believe that there might be a lot of truth to the speculations shared here.
Also, I wouldn't necessarily promise you that every piece of information shared here will be interesting to all, like me certain topics like the woodwork, weren’t something I am fond of exploring in depth. The good part is though, there is no lingering on any subjects, you get the info and then you simply move to the next agenda.

Overall, it's very different from my usual reads - a welcome change!

Genre: Mythology? Nonfiction? Research?... m not really sure
Rating: 4/5 ⭐️

[Priya Sambhar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gold mine for history lovers .
Will Help like a dictionary for all archeological enthusiastic readers .

No story though, still connects on another level.