Colonial Discourse and the Suffering of Indian American Children is now freely available.
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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.

Aprākṛta-śarira

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Aprākṛta-śarira literally means ‘non-material body’.

According to most of the theistic systems of philosophy, prakṛti or insentient nature (sometimes called aparā- prakṛti also) is one of the fundamental constituents of the universe. It comprises the three guṇas as follows :

  1. Sattva
  2. Rajas
  3. Tamas

Not only the inanimate creation but also the bodies of living beings, are made out of this prakṛti. Hence, these bodies are called prākṛta-śarīras or ‘material bodies’. However, as opposed to this, the bodies of God in his aspects of vyuha (emanations), vibhava (incarnations) and area (manifestation in worship), are aprākṛta-śarīras non-material bodies.

The bodies of the nityas (eternal beings) and the muktas (liberated souls) are also made of the same stuff. This non-material substance is also known as śuddhasattva and is the stuff of the ‘mtyavibhuti,’ the non-material infinite domain beyond prakṛti and its three guṇas.


References[edit]

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

Contributors to this article

Krishna Maheshwari, Deval Sancheti

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