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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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Bhṛgu

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Bhṛgu literally means ‘the roaster’.

Bhṛgu, as per Ancient Literature[edit]

‘Bhṛgu’ is a well-known name that appears in several works, both Vedic and Paurāṇic. Assuming that the word has been derived from the root ‘bhṛj’ or ‘bhrāj’,[1] it could have been the name of the fire-priest by whose magical power the altar fire was kindled. According to a myth, god Mātariśvan brought lightning from the heavens to the earth and taught the art of kindling fire with araṇis or fire-sticks to the Bhṛgus,[2] the Āṇgirasas and the Atharvans.

Roots of Sage Bhṛgu[edit]

  • The sage Bhṛgu has been described as the mānasaputra or mindborn son of Brahmā, the Creator.
  • Sometimes he has been stated to be the son of god Varuṇa or even of Indra.
  • He was the father of Lakṣmi the spouse of Viṣṇu.[3]
  • In other incarnations, he was the father of Śukrācārya[4] and sages like Cyavana.

Attributes of Sage Bhṛgu[edit]

  • He is said to have once tested the Trinity; Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva. He then came to the conclusion that Viṣṇu was the best among them and he alone deserved to be worshiped.
  • He is one of the well-known sages who were ‘gotra-pravartakas,’ originators of gotras or lineage. Hence his descendants are called ‘Bhārgavas.’ Sages Jamadagni and Paraśurāma belonged to this gotra.
  • The Mahābhārata pictures him as a great savant often delivering discourses on abstruse matters.
  • He was one of the four sages, the other three being Marīci, Atri and Kaśyapa, who elaborated the Vaikhānasa Agama precepts followed by some Vaiṣṇava sects.
  • The place where Bhṛgu is said to have performed austerities is known as Bhṛgu-Kaccha. It is situated on the bank of the river Narmadā near its confluence with the sea. It is now known as Bharuch, situated in the Gujarat State.
  • At the place known as the Daśāśvamedha Ghāṭ, the king Bali is said to have performed the horse sacrifice. It was here that he propitiated Vāmana[5] and granted him the boon of ‘land covered in three steps.’
  • The city itself is considered to be very ancient, the original ‘Bhṛgupura’[6] being built by Bhṛgu himself.

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Bhrāj means ‘to burn or to roast’.
  2. ↑ Bhṛgus are also called ‘bhārgavāh’.
  3. ↑ Hence the name ‘Bhārgavī’ has been applied to her.
  4. ↑ Śukracarya was the guru of the asuras or demons.
  5. ↑ Vāmana means the dwarf-incarnation of Viṣṇu.
  6. ↑ Bhṛgupura means city of Bhṛgu.
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

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