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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.

Aṣtavasus

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Aṣtavasus literally means ‘the Eight Vasus’.

Vedic gods are usually enumerated as thirty-three, among whom the ‘Aṣtavasus’ or ‘Eight Vasus’ form the first group. The Vasus are a class of deities, chiefly known as attendants of Indra. The word ‘Vasu’ is derived from the root ‘vas’ (‘to dwell’, ‘to cause to dwell,’ ‘to shine’) and hence the ‘Vasus’ are deities representing all spheres of extension or space, and height. They are personifications of nature and natural phenomena.

The eight Vasus are :

  1. Dharā - The earth
  2. Anala - The fire
  3. Ap - The waters
  4. Anila - The wind
  5. Dhruva - The polestar
  6. Soma - The moon
  7. Prabhāsa - The dawn
  8. Pratyuṣa - The light

According to the Visnupurāna[1] the Aṣṭavasus were the eight sons of Vasu, the wife of Dharma and one of the ten daughters of Dakṣa Prajāpati. The Mahābhārata[2] says that one of them was born on earth as Bhīṣma due to a curse.


References[edit]

  1. ↑ Visnupurāna 1.15
  2. ↑ Mahābhārata 1.99
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

Contributors to this article

Krishna Maheshwari, Deval Sancheti

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