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.

Amṛtatva

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Amṛtatva literally means ‘immortality’.

All living beings are naturally and instinctively struggling for freedom from sorrow and suffering. So also do they seek pleasure and happiness. The Upaniṣads, the ancient and basic scriptures, call this state ‘amṛtatva,’ the state of immortality and bliss. Mokṣa, mukti, nirvāṇa and kaivalya are some of the more common synonyms of the same.

All the scriptures are unanimous in their teachings. They preach as follows :

  • Amṛtatva is the goal of human life
  • The human beings desirous of obtaining it should purify themselves by giving up evil ways of life.
  • They should take recourse to the śāstras (holy books), ācārya (spiritual preceptor), and practise jñāna (knowledge) along with bhakti (devotion) to reach that goal.

Once this goal of amṛtatva is obtained, there is no return to this life of transmigration. The liberated soul will enjoy eternal bliss. Details of the path and the nature of amṛtatva differ from school to school of religious philosophies.


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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