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.

Palāśavṛkṣa

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Palāśavṛkṣa literally means ‘the tree Butea frondosa’.

In certain death-rites, three twigs of palāśavṛkṣa tree are firmly fixed in the ground. The palāśa tree is closely associated with several rites and ceremonies. A daṇḍa[1] used by the brahmacāri after his upanayāna has to be of this wood. A pot of sour milk, with several holes in it is placed over it so that the liquid drizzles over an urn containing the ashes and bones of the dead person cremated earlier. Its broad leaves are used in several religious rituals.


References[edit]

  1. Daṇḍa means a stick, like a walking stick.
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

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