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.

Rcīka

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Rcika was a great ṛṣi[1] endowed with special powers. He was the son of Aurva and the grandson of Bhṛgu, both of whom were also well-known. His wife was Satyavati, the daughter of the king Gādhi.

Pleased with her devoted service, Rcīka once asked her to pray for any boon she liked. She requested him that a son to be born to her and her mother too should be blessed with a worthy son. Rcīka gave both of them sanctified caru[2] to be consumed along with some special instructions. The ladies however, made a mistake and followed the instructions in the opposite order.

As a result, Rcīka informed them that Satyavatī’s son would be a kṣattriya whereas her mother would give birth to a son who would ultimately become a brāhmaṇa. However, on her pleading, he granted the boon that her son would be a brāhmaṇa while the grandson would become a kṣattriya. Accordingly, her son Jamadagni remained a brāhmaṇa sage and his son, Paraśurāma became a kṣattriya by temperament and actions. Gādhi’s son was Kauśika who became Viśvāmitra[3] by practicing severe austerities.


References[edit]

  1. Ṛṣi means sage.
  2. Caru means porridge.
  3. He was a brahmarṣi, a great brāhmaṇa-sage.
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore