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.

Āruṇi

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Āruṇi, son of Aruṇa Aupaveśi, is one of the most important teachers mentioned in the Upaniṣads. When he was undergoing training in Vedic studies, his guru Dhaumya once commanded him to stop the water that was leaking out of his fields. Āruṇi lay across the breach and stopped it. Hence, he came to be known as Uddālaka (‘One who bound or fastened the bund’). Gautama is an another appellation used for him. Svetaketu was his son.

He once went to the king Pravāhaṇa Jaivali and was humble enough to learn about the Pañcāgnividyā or the ‘doctrine of five fires’ from him.

When he discovered that his son Svetaketu was puffed up with pride after returning from his teacher’s house, due to Vedic learning, he put him a fundamental question : ‘Have you known that by knowing which, all the unknown becomes known?’ Since Svetaketu did not knew the answer he requested him to teach it, Āruṇi taught him this esoteric wisdom.[1]


References[edit]

  1. Chāndogya Upanisad, chapter 6
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore