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.

Sahadeva

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Sahadeva was the last of the five Pāṇḍavas. Nakula and Sahadeva were the twins born to Mādrī[1] by the grace of the Aśvinīdevatās. Like Nakula he was very handsome in appearance. An expert in taming horses and elephants, he was very good in taking care of the cows. Before the Rājasūya sacrifice, he toured the southern countries to conquer their kings and collect ransoms for the sacrifice. He is said to have collected the ransom even from Vibhīṣaṇa[2] through Ghaṭotkaca.[3]

During the sacrifice, he had the privilege of performing the agrapūjā[4] to Śrī Kṛṣṇa as per the advice of the grandsire Bhīṣma. When the Pāṇḍavas were living incognito at the palace of the king Virāta, he had assumed the name Tantripāla and was in charge of the king’s dairy. In the Kurukṣetra battle, he killed the villain Śakuni. He was endowed with trikālajñāna or the special power of knowing the past, present and future. He had two sons:

  1. Śrutasena from Draupadī
  2. Suhotra from Vijayā[5]

His third wife was Bhānumati.</ref>She was the daughter of king Bhānu.</ref> During the mahāprasthāna[6] he died after Draupadī, the reason for early death being his pride about his intellectual powers. The Mahābhārata mentions three more Sahadevas. They are:

  1. The first was a great sage attached to the royal court of Indra, the king of gods.
  2. The second was a king in ancient India.
  3. The third was the son of Jarāsandha[7] who succeeded him after his death at the hands of Bhīma.

The Bhāgavata also alludes to three Sahadevas, one being a demon and the other two, kings of solar dynasty.


References[edit]

  1. Mādrī was the second wife of the king Pāṇḍu.
  2. Vibhīṣaṇa was Rāvana's younger brother.
  3. He was the son of Bhīma in his wife Hiḍimbā.
  4. Agrapūjā is the worship of the greatest person present.
  5. She was the daughter of Śalya.
  6. Mahāprasthāna means the final journey towards heaven.
  7. Jarāsandha was the emperor of Magadha.
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore