From Rudra to Bholenath

RESURRECTING FAITH

- Devdutt Pattanaik

gods and demons equally because he is equanimous and doesn't differentiate between things, lacking a moral compass. Shiva can be compared to the naive activist who believes in charity and dole, and refuses to see that while some people use the help to uplift themselves from poverty, others use it to wallow in laziness. To be clear, Shiva is not coming from 'saving the world'—he is simply generous with what he is too blissful to bother with, or care about, property.

There are stories of Ravana, the rakshasa-king, who takes advantage of Shiva's gullibility and asks him for all the powers in the world. Ravana even asked for Mount Kailash, the abode of Shiva. Shiva gave it to him. So Ravana picked up the mountain and began carrying it southwards towards his island kingdom.