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

Yogaśikhopaniṣad

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Yogaśikhopaniṣad though classed among the minor Upaniṣads of the Yoga group, this is a fairly long and exhaustive Upanisad. It belongs to the Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda. It is in the form of a dialogue between Hiraṇyagarbha[1] and Siva.[2] There are 390 verses in all in the anuṣṭubh metre spread over six adhyāyas or chapters.

First Adhyāya[edit]

It has 178 verses. It deals with a large number of topics. After describing some preliminaries common to Vedāntic scriptures, it deals exhaustively with quite a few topics of Haṭhayoga. The following is a brief list of such topics:

  • Purification and refinement of the mind through yoga
  • Necessity of approaching a guru or spiritual teacher who is an adept in prāṇāyāma
  • Arousing the Kuṇḍalinī power
  • Various kinds of prāṇāyāmas and bandhas
  • Some yogas like Mantrayoga and Layayoga
  • Importance of abhyāsa or continuous practice
  • Jīvanmukti or liberation even while living

Second Adhyāya[edit]

It has 22 verses. It deals mainly with Praṇava[3] as the mulamantra.[4] It is interesting to note that devotion to the guru and God are stressed as all-important in attaining the knowledge of the Supreme.

Third Adhyāya[edit]

It has 25 verses. It describes Nādabrahman or Brahman as sound and its four forms. They are:

  1. Parā
  2. Paśyanti
  3. Madhyamā
  4. Vaikharī

Fourth Adhyāya[edit]

It has 24 verses. It puts forward the usual theories of Advaita Vedānta such as:

  • The non-existence of the jīva or individual soul as an independent reality
  • The world as unreal as the objects seen in a dream
  • The body as a superimposition on the soul due to ajñāna or nescience

Fifth Adhyāya[edit]

It has 62 verses. It describes the body as the residence of Viṣṇu, the all-pervading Supreme Lord. Then follows an account of the six cakras like mulādhāra. Other topics portrayed are:

  • Rousing of the Kuṇḍalinī power
  • Khecarimudrā
  • Meditation on Nārāyaṇa in the sahasrāracakra
  • Method of worshiping one’s guru and indifference towards siddhis or yogic powers

Sixth Adhyāya[edit]

It is the last adhyāya having 79 verses. It deals with a few more topics of Haṭhayoga and Jñānayoga. They are:

  • Method of meditation on the Kuṇḍalini power
  • Description of the suṣumnānāḍī
  • Meditations on the forms of Brahmā in the six cakras
  • Bondage and liberation depending on the mind being active or still

Epilogue[edit]

The Upaniṣad ends with the warning that jñāna[5] can arise only by practice done according to the instructions of a qualified guru.


References[edit]

  1. ↑ He was the disciple.
  2. ↑ He was the teacher.
  3. ↑ Praṇava means Oṅkāra.
  4. ↑ Mulamantra means fundamental esoteric formula.
  5. ↑ Jñāna means spiritual wisdom as direct experience.
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

Contributors to this article

Deval Sancheti

Explore Other Articles

Retrieved from "https://hindupedia.com/index.php?title=Yogaśikhopaniṣad&oldid=136354"