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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.


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Agnisāra

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Agnisāra literally means ‘the essence of fire’.

Works on Haṭhayoga like Gheranda Samhitā describes ‘Saṭkarmas’ or six purification techniques for cleansing the body. ‘Dhauti’ the first of these is of four kinds :

  1. Antardhauti
  2. Dantadhauti
  3. Hṛd-dhauti
  4. Mulaśodhana.

Antardhauti, the first of these, is again of four varieties :

  1. Vātasāra
  2. Vārisāra
  3. Vāhnisāra or Agnisāra
  4. Bahiṣkṛta

Agni or vahni represents the ‘fire’ of the digestive system (often called as jāṭharāgni or vaiśvānarāgni), the capacity of digestion and assimilation. The health and strength of the body depends on the proper functioning of the digestive system. Agnisāra-dhauti is prescribed for the removal of functional disorders and even organic defects of this system.

The process consists of ‘pressing the navel knot a hundred times against the spinal cord’ by breathing out and contracting the abdominal muscles. The daily practice of this results in acquiring a divine lustre and vital energy. As in all other Haṭhayogic exercises, this also should be practiced under the direct guidance of a guru.


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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