Colonial Discourse and the Suffering of Indian American Children Book Cover.webp

Colonial Discourse and the Suffering of Indian American Children is now published after academic peer-review and available through open access.

In this book, we analyze the psycho-social consequences that Indian American children face after they are exposed to the school textbook discourse on Hinduism and ancient India. We show that there is an intimate connection―an almost exact correspondence―between James Mill’s ( a prominent politician in Britain and head of the British East India Company) colonial-racist discourse and the current school-textbook discourse. Consequently, this archaic and racist discourse, camouflaged under the cover of political correctness, produces in the Indian American children the same psychological impact as racism is known to produce: shame, inferiority, embarrassment, identity confusion, assimilation, and a phenomenon similar to racelessness where the children dissociate from the tradition and culture of their ancestors

This book is an outcome of 4 years of rigorous research as a part of our ongoing commitment at Hindupedia to challenge the representation of Hindu Dharma within Academia.

Sajatiyabheda

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Sajatiyabheda literally means ‘homogeneous distinction’.

According to Advaita Vedānta, Brahman-the Absolute, is entirely homogeneous and is the only Reality. The Viśiṣtādvaita Vedānta, however, though it accepts Brahman as the Absolute and independent Reality, also accepts the cit[1] and the acit[2] as the secondary or dependent realities included in itself.

To prove the possibility of such internal distinctions, the protagonists of this school declare that bheda or distinction can be of three different kinds:

  1. Vijātīya bheda - heterogeneous distinction as that of a cow from a horse
  2. Sajātīyabheda - homogeneous distinction as that of one cow from another cow
  3. Svagatabheda - internal distinction as between the head and the tail of the same cow.

Though Brahman does not have the first two bhedas because it is the only and independent Reality, it does have the third.[3]

References[edit]

  1. Cit is the conscious entities, the jivas or the individual souls.
  2. Acit is the insentient prakṛti or nature comprising the three guṇas.
  3. It is called as svagatabheda.
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore