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.

Vijñāna

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Vijñāna literally means ‘special knowledge’.

This word has been used in several senses. In the Bhagavadgitā[1] it means experience of the higher truths. The purāṇas use the word to indicate fourteen kinds of vidyās or areas of knowledge such as the Vedas, Vedāṅgas, Mīmāṅsā and the purāṇas. It may also mean arts and sciences like architecture, iconography and any other specialized field. Vijñāna is also interpreted as memorizing a treatise and understanding it thoroughly.


References[edit]

  1. Bhagavadgitā 18-42
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore