"But when I do think about religious problems, I think in Hindu categories. When my father died, it was the first time something really terrible happened to me-and Christianity and Judaism were of absolutely no use to me. My Jewish and Christian friends would take me to synagogues and churches, and it didn't help at all. And then I started thinking about the myths I was translating at the time, which were about death-why there is death, how death came into the world, what happens when we die, speculations about karma and rebirth. The Hindu version of it made more sense to me than anything. It just seemed like Shiva as a god was more likely to be responsible for the world the way I knew it than the gods of Judaism and Christianity. Capricious, beautiful, violent, it just made more sense."
React to this quote
More by Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty
See allResonant Thoughts
"I've written every drum bit I ever done, every note. I played the drums. I played the guitar. I played the piano. I wanted it exactly the way I wanted. Exactly. Any composer I would think would want i…"
Explore Further
Related Quotes
"We are in the world and, before we know where we are, we are on one of the paths which we must traverse in …"
— Francis Marion Crawford"The great world to which I am native has long ago outgrown the myths, the toys, the bogies of your infant w…"
— Olaf Stapledon"A little time, and thou shalt close thy eyes; and him who has attended thee to thy grave, another soon will…"
— Marcus Aurelius"He who cannot look over a battlefield with a dry eye, causes the death of many men uselessly."
— Napoleon I of France"In urban culture, funeral directors have a certain level of prestige. They're right up there with preachers…"
— Sheri Booker"Humans inflict untold suffering and death on many billions of animals every year, and the overwhelming majo…"
— David Benatar

