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.

Pustaka

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Pustaka literally means ‘book’.

The various gods and goddesses are often shown with āyudhas[1] in their hands. One such āyudha, of the sāttvika type is the pustaka. The gods in whose hand this is shown are:

  1. Brahmā
  2. Dakṣiṇāmurti
  3. Gaṇapati
  4. Hanumān
  5. Hayagrīva
  6. Sarasvatī
  7. Sage Vyāsa

It symbolizes the āgama or the scriptures. The other objects that generally go with it are the akṣamālā,[2] the kamaṇḍalu[3] and the jñāna-mudrā or the gesture of exposition.


References[edit]

  1. Āyudhas means the weapons or implements.
  2. Akṣamālā means the rosary.
  3. Kamaṇḍalu means the water pot.
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

Contributors to this article

Explore Other Articles