The Pregnant King by Devdutt Pattanaik

The Pregnant King by Devdutt Pattanaik
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A myth within a myth – this is an immensely readable yarn about the duality of nature, the binary world, yin and yang, Shiva and Shakti – what have you! It is an allegorical account of the conundrum of the sexuality of transgenders and hermaphrodites; also the present day ethical conflicts about parthenogenesis and surrogacy. There is bit of bombast about patriarchy

…only the male flesh is the most evolved of all flesh, a vessel worthy of wisdom… it is acquired after going through a thousand times eight hundred and forty lifetimes, Women are but a lifetime away. The male flesh, with its hanging appendage, cannot hide the truth of its desire but the female flesh can. The male flesh therefore can be caught before it submits to passion but the female flesh, only after. Women can never be Rishis. The seed of life, when withheld, can generate the fire that burns the fetter of desire and destiny that binds us to the world. Women, whether they like it or not, will shed their red seed each month. Men, however, have the power to conserve their white seed.

The counter argument is then presented

Without either there is neither. They are two halves of the whole. Neither can be superior or inferior. It is the Manava’s mind that creates such hierarchies and prevents women from becoming Rishis.
The female form lends itself best to represent matter because both create life within themselves.
The male form lends itself vest to represent soul because both create life outside themselves.
Within you is your soul m Adi-nath as Shiva, silent, observant, still.
Around you is matter, Adi-natha as Shakti, ever-changing, enchanting, enlightening, enriching, empowering.

There is a fascinating exposition about semiotics – specifically – syntactics in nature and culture.

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