Nityananda Misra is an IIM graduate working in the financial industry. He is passionate about Hindu scriptures and has studied them out of interest. Mr Misra has also authored books titled ‘Mahaviri: Hanuman-Chalisa Demystified‘ and ‘The OM Mala – Meanings Of The Mystic Sound‘.
Nityanand has provided a detailed criticism of Devdutt Pattanaik’s works in a recent conversation with Rajiv Malhotra. The speaker reveals that the self-proclaimed mythologist’s writing is not based on stories in Hindu Puranas. He also reveals that the author might be misinterpreting Sanskrit words.
India’s top mythologist (@devduttmyth) doesn’t even know ABCs of #Sanskrit. Literally. @RajivMessage @Gopalee67 @udayanah @kashcit @suhasm pic.twitter.com/dwTxbhwnLJ
— Nityanand Misra (@MisraNityanand) January 8, 2017
Nityanand claims that Devdutt has been inventing his own stories and selling them as Hindu mythology. In addition to this, Misra says that the Pattanaik has a special hatred for Brahmins and doesn’t accept genuine criticism of his work.
In “non-fiction” My Gita, @devduttmyth invents sth new, misappropriates a term 4 it, & misattributes it to Upanishads. @udayanah @Gopalee67 pic.twitter.com/BzWxj2pufc
— Nityanand Misra (@MisraNityanand) January 17, 2017
The full conversation can be watched below :
This is a detailed interview where he gives a point by point analysis of Pattanaik’s work. As summarised in the description of the video, Misra’s conversation with Rajiv Malhotra covers these topics
- Instances that indicate Devdutt does not know even the basics of Sanskrit.
- The mythologist’s obsession with looking for sexual meanings and his admiration for Wendy Doniger in the past.
- Pattanaik’s serious errors in translating very important Sanskrit words and gives them a completely distorted meaning.
- The self-proclaimed mythologist’s artificially inflated brand name that cannot be justified on merit.
Mr Misra has also written a detailed article criticising one of his most famous works ‘My Gita’. The book is a best seller and is being read widely in order to understand one of the most important Hindu scriptures. However, according to critics of Pattanaik, it contains serious errors.
My formal critique of @devduttmyth‘s My Gita, published on @SwarajyaMag site. @krishashok @neha_aks @6amiji @suhasm @Gopalee67 @kashcit https://t.co/mNcUQr97QE
— Nityanand Misra (@MisraNityanand) February 8, 2017
It appears that Devdutt Pattanaik’s works are not indisputable and accurate interpretations of Hindu mythology and philosophy. By watering down its contents and misinterpreting them, Devdutt seems to be pursuing a certain politically motivated campaign to tilt his reader’s opinions towards a left-leaning ideology.
