I recently began and completed From Shiva to Shankara book by Devdutt Pattnaik. I read part of the book, and listened to part of it as an audiobook thanks to the reader app on android. Quick review.
The book won't be new material to a student of Shiva philosophy. It contains 'selected and abridged' stories of Shiva from various sources, threaded by common themes. The gist of the book is a journey of how the lord's transformation from an ascetic to a householder happened. It also explores how an abstract concept an entity eventually developed a form, an icon, that could be worshipped.
I love the book, it's so simple and quick to read. While some of the tales are absurdly abridged to the point of confusion, they do give a general sense of the themes involved. The illustrations are super duper cute, and the tables sprinkled throughout to help reader distinguish between competing concepts was inspired. This was my first cover-to-cover book by Pattnaik, and I'm much smarter after reading it.
Strong recommendation to anybody interested in learning more about Shiva. I would give the book 9 out of ten stars.
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