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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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Ajina

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Ajina literally means skin.

The skin of a black antelope in particular is called kṛṣṇājina. Throughout the ages it has been a symbol of holiness and Vedic culture. The country Aryāvarta has been defined as the territory where kṛṣṇamṛga or the black antelope wanders freely.

The Satapatha Brāhmana[1] compares yajña (sacrifice) to a black antelope. This antelope has white, black and yellow hair which represents the Rk, Sāman and Yajus respectively.

Being considered holy, it is often used in sacrificial rites for various purposes as in husking grains from which cakes are made. It's skin is used by the brahmacārin (celibate novice pursuing the Vedic studies) and the yati or muni (ascetic) as a seat spread or a couch.

A strip of kṛṣṇājina, worn by the dvijas in the earlier days as yajñopavīta (sacred thread), was later replaced by a thread.

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Satapatha Brāhmana 1.1.4. 1-2
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

Contributors to this article

Krishna Maheshwari, Deval Sancheti

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