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.

Śiṣya

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Śiṣya literally means ‘one who is fit to be trained’.

Religion prescribes special qualifications, both for the guru[1] and for the Śiṣya[2] in every field of knowledge. One of the most general descriptions prescribes the following as the basic and minimum qualification:

  1. Peaceful nature
  2. Humility
  3. Purity of mind
  4. Faith in the guru
  5. Capacity to absorb and retain the knowledge taught by him
  6. Efficiency
  7. Birth in a good family
  8. Intelligence
  9. Good conduct
  10. Ability to repay the debt to the guru in some form

According to other sources, an intense desire to learn, inquisitive nature and service to the guru are the other qualifications expected in a śiṣya.


References[edit]

  1. ↑ Guru means the teacher.
  2. ↑ Śiṣya means the disciple.
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

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