India, Sept. 17 -- By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik - Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist

On television, Arjuna is presented as the true hero of the Mahabharata: masculine, entitled, radiant, unmatched with the bow, chosen to receive the Bhagavad Gita from Krishna himself. He eclipses his elder brother Bhima so completely that few remember it is Bhima, not Arjuna, who kills all hundred Kauravas at Kurukshetra.

A hierarchy is embedded in this relationship, one that predates the Mahabharata itself. Arjuna's father is Indra, king of the Vedic gods. Bhima's father is Vayu, one of the Maruts, storm-gods, denizens of the wilderness rather than the palace. Indra once struck at Diti's womb, fearing her unborn child would replace him.

The foetus ...