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.

Hotṛ

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Hotṛ literally means ‘one who invites gods for receiving oblations’.

A Vedic sacrifice needs four principal priests among whom the hotṛ is the one. He belongs to the Ṛgveda; his special duty is to recite the mantras of the Ṛgveda called ‘śastras’ (laudatory hymns) to invoke the gods to the sacrifice.

He performs all the ritualistic acts for which no other person has been specifically mentioned. He sits, facing the east, to the north of the northern vedi (platform). His assistants are:

  1. Maitrāvaruṇa
  2. Acchāvāka
  3. Grāvastut


References[edit]

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