It is a popular belief that the Ramayana is idealistic while the Mahabharata is realistic. Yet these two epics have identical building blocks, identical themes, and identical history.
In this groundbreaking book, Devdutt Pattanaik, India's most popular mythologist, explores the similarities and dissimilarities between the two epics in a 'playful analaysis'. Whether it is the family structure, forest exile, or war, the comparison between the two epics prove a startling point - the Mahabharata is in fact a reaction to the events in the Ramayana. Ideas in this book are distributed over 56 chapters. In temples ritual, Vishnu is offered eight different meals daily, different on all seven days of the week - 56 dishes in all. May each chapter serve as a mouthwatering offering to the Vishnu within you.