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.

Prātaranuvāka

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Prātaranuvāka literally means ‘morning litany’.

In the Somayāgas sacrifices requiring the oblation of the soma juice, the day on which the juice is extracted is called the ‘sutyā’. On the previous night, during its last part, the hotṛ priest recites several mantras, technically called as ‘prāta-ranuvāka’. It is generally chanted by him sitting between the two havirdhāna carts.[1]

The litany comprises three sections. The total number of ṛks[2] to be chanted varies from 100 to 360 and sometimes up to 1000. The pitch of the voice while chanting them has to be gradually raised through seven tones.


References[edit]

  1. These are the carts carrying the vessels full of the soma plants or stalks.
  2. Ṛks means Rgvedic mantras.
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore