Colonial Discourse and the Suffering of Indian American Children is now freely available.
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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.


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.

Sarvaprāyaścitta

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Sarvaprāyaścitta literally means ‘universal expiation’.

This is a special omnibus type of expiation prescribed for a dying person to ward off the effects of all the sins that might have been committed knowingly or unknowingly. It may be performed either by the person himself or his son or any other close relative. This rite includes the following steps:

  1. Shaving
  2. Bath
  3. Drinking pañcagavya
  4. Honoring a brāhmaṇa of pure life
  5. Gifting a cow or money after referring to the various types of sins he might have committed
  6. Other gifts known as daśādānas[1]
  7. Recitation of the Kāmastuti[2][3]

The whole procedure has been described in the work Antyakarmadīpikā of Haribhaṭṭadikṣita. If the person takes āturasamnyāsa, there is no need for any other expiation.


References[edit]

  1. ↑ Daśādānas means ten kinds of dānas or gifts.
  2. ↑ Atharvaveda 3.29.7
  3. ↑ Taittirlya Brāhmana 2.2.5.9
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

Contributors to this article

Krishna Maheshwari, Deval Sancheti

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