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

In this book, we analyze the psycho-social consequences faced by Indian American children after exposure to the school textbook discourse on Hinduism and ancient India. We demonstrate that there is an intimate connection—an almost exact correspondence—between James Mill’s colonial-racist discourse (Mill was the head of the British East India Company) and the current school textbook discourse. This racist discourse, camouflaged under the cover of political correctness, produces the same psychological impacts on Indian American children that racism typically causes: shame, inferiority, embarrassment, identity confusion, assimilation, and a phenomenon akin to racelessness, where children dissociate from the traditions and culture of their ancestors.


This book is the result of four years of rigorous research and academic peer-review, reflecting our ongoing commitment at Hindupedia to challenge the representation of Hindu Dharma within academia.

Sanskāras

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Sanskāras literally means ‘refinement’, ‘sacraments’.

The word saṅskāra, in a technical sense, means a ritualistic act accompanied by appropriate mantras by which a person is rid of his defects and limitations, and made refined by adding some specialty. Such sanskāras as listed in the smṛtis and dharmaśāstras vary from 16 to 40. However, 16 sanskāras which are generally called as ṣoḍaśa-sanskāras. These have been widely accepted.

References[edit]

  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore