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.

Paśupati

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Significance of Paśupati[edit]

Paśupati is one of the names of Lord Śiva. A jīva who is bound by the pāśa or bondage of ignorance and sees himself as the body-mind complex is called ‘paśu’. Śiva being the lord of all such paśus or jīvas, can rightly be called as ‘Paśupati’.

Aspect of Paśupati[edit]

Paśupati is one of the eight aspects or forms of Rudra-Śiva. In this aspect, he is a deity of the plants and has Svāhā as his divine consort. He is also the lord of quadrupeds and bipeds.[1] Iconographically, he is shown like Śiva with four hands, carrying a sword and a shield in the two upper hands, the lower two hands showing the mudras or abhaya[2] and varada[3] poses. Paśupatinātha is the presiding deity of Nepal.


References[edit]

  1. Taittiriya Samhitā 3.1.4.11 and 12
  2. Abhaya means protection.
  3. Varada means giving boons.
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore