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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.


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Rathakāra

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Rathakāra literally means ‘one who builds a ratha chariot’.

A rathakāra is actually a carpenter who has specialized in the art of preparing rathas or chariots. He has been mentioned as taṣṭā or tvaṣṭā in the Ṛgveda.[1][2] Since his services were essential in the performance of Vedic sacrifices, he was given the status almost equal to that of a dvija.[3] Hence he could undergo the upanayāna rite and even establish the Vedic fires. Apart from the making of chariots, he could also live by taming horses, driving carts and building houses. Gradually his status declined to that of a śudra due to the rigidity of the caste system of later periods.


References[edit]

  1. ↑ Ṛgveda 1.61.4
  2. ↑ Ṛgveda 8.102.8
  3. ↑ Dvija means the twice-born, the first three castes.
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

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