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.

Four Puruṣārthas

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

Puruṣārtha means achieving ‘one’s purpose’ after knowing the purport of it. There are four principal puruṣārthas in Sanātana tradition. They are:

  1. Dharma - It delineates the religious and moral law governing individual conduct.
  2. Artha - It means wealth, riches, property, money etc.
  3. Kāma - It encompasses love or desire of sensual enjoyments.
  4. Mokṣa - It is the final emancipation, the deliverance of the soul from recurring births or transmigration

In order to maintain decorum and prevent unmārgapravṛtti,[1] artha and kāma are bound by dharma which designate that in pursuit to attain artha or kāma, dharma has to be followed. The main purport of all the three puruṣārtha’s is to attain the state of mokṣa. Hence mokṣa is considered to be the ultimate puruṣārtha. It evinces that dharma plays a significant role in pursuing mokṣa.

References[edit]

  1. It means following evil courses or indiscipline ways in the society.