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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.

Ḍākini

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

According to tantras, Ḍākinis are texts of the Mother cult, a class of female spirits attending the major goddesses in their fierce aspect like Kālī. Their function is to assume terrible forms to instill fear in the hearts of people who are inimical to the devotees. They can also be benevolent spirits who guide the devotees along the right path.

These ḍākinīs are supposed to have burst forth from the derisive laughter of Śivadutī (an aspect of Durgā) and fought with the rākṣasas or the demons in the armies of the demon king Ruru. A ḍākinī is shown as a goddess seated on a lotus pedestal with sixteen petals. She has four hands holding triśula (trident), pātra (vessel), khaṭvāṅga (magical wand) and carma (shield). The vessel is filled with pudding. She is pictured as a malevolent and benevolent goddess with blood. Sometimes they are described as the guardian deities of dharma and devotees.


References[edit]

  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

Contributors to this article

Krishna Maheshwari, Deval Sancheti

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