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.

Ātmaprabodha Upaniṣad

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

This is a small Upaniṣad belonging to the Ṛgveda. The first part is in prose and the rest in verses.

The prose version appears like a condensation of the Nārāyana Upaniṣad and deals with the supremacy of Nārāyaṇa and the aṣṭākṣarī (eight-syllabled) mantra. The rest of the text describes the subjective experience of the jīvanmukta or the liberated being.

Nārāyaṇa has transcended māyā and has realized his identity with the inmost Self. Hence he is beyond the three guṇas and the codes of conduct that bind the ignorant ones. He is ever pure with infinite consciousness. His spirit is sought after by the scriptures. All the beings and all the objects of creation exist in him just as the bubbles and the waves exist in the ocean. Being ever blissful in nature, no sorrow or suffering will ever touch him. Unfortunately the ignorant people of the world are not aware of their true nature as the owl is not aware of the brilliant light of the sun.

References[edit]

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