Colonial Discourse and the Suffering of Indian American Children Book Cover.webp

Colonial Discourse and the Suffering of Indian American Children is now published after academic peer-review and available through open access.

In this book, we analyze the psycho-social consequences that Indian American children face after they are exposed to the school textbook discourse on Hinduism and ancient India. We show that there is an intimate connection―an almost exact correspondence―between James Mill’s ( a prominent politician in Britain and head of the British East India Company) colonial-racist discourse and the current school-textbook discourse. Consequently, this archaic and racist discourse, camouflaged under the cover of political correctness, produces in the Indian American children the same psychological impact as racism is known to produce: shame, inferiority, embarrassment, identity confusion, assimilation, and a phenomenon similar to racelessness where the children dissociate from the tradition and culture of their ancestors

This book is an outcome of 4 years of rigorous research as a part of our ongoing commitment at Hindupedia to challenge the representation of Hindu Dharma within Academia.

Yajña, Yāga and Homa

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Yajña and yāga has derived from the verbal root ‘yaj’.[1] It means a worship in the form of offering oblations, a sacrifice unto the gods. It is also defined as the tyāga[2] of a dravya[3] unto a devatā.[4] Homa is the act of pouring ājya into the duly consecrated gṛhya or domestic fire. It is a later adaptation of the original yajñas and yāgas and is more common in pujā or the ritualistic worship of deities of the religious pantheon.

The general principle accepted by the religious tradition is that the scriptures, the Śruti and the smṛtis, are the final authority regarding the things beyond, the ultimate values of life. According to them, yajña or the system of sacrifices was given by God himself at the beginning of creation, to human beings and the gods like Indra, Agni, Varuṇa and so on, as a link between them, to sustain each other. The human beings were to satiate the gods through the sacrifices and the gods in return would bestow on the human beings rains, food and other things needed to live a prosperous life, because they controlled the various forces of nature.

When a person performs Vedic sacrifices like Jyotiṣṭoma, to go to heaven; the potential effect of it in a subtle form resides in his soul and will give its fruit after death. This potential imperceptible power or śakti, is called ‘apurva’.

Human beings need light and heat to sustain themselves in life. The sun[5] and the fire[6] are the two sources for these. The sun is not under human control, but fire is. Perhaps it was this fact that might have induced our ancient ancestors to protect and maintain the fire with respect and even worship it. It must have been given the status of a deity as a result of the intuitive experiences of the sages.


References[edit]

  1. Yaj means to worship, to sacrifice, to bestow.
  2. Tyāga means giving up, offering.
  3. Dravya means a specified material.
  4. Devatā means a specific deity.
  5. Sun means Surya.
  6. Fire means Agni.
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

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