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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.

Bhruṇahatyā

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Bhruṇahatyā literally means ‘killing the foetus’.

The topics of puṇya (merit or virtue) and pāpa (demerit or sin) have been dealt with in great detail in the purāṇas and the dharmaśāstras. The origin of these concepts can be found even in the Ṛgveda.

Pāpas (also called patakas) or sins have been classified as mahāpātakas (heinous sins) and upapātakas (minor sins). ‘Bhruṇahatyā’ is one of the sins included in these lists. The word ‘bhraṇa’ has three senses:

  1. A learned brāhmaṇa
  2. A brāhmaṇa who is a Vedic student
  3. The foetus or the unborn baby

In all these senses, bhruṇahatyā has been listed as a heinous sin, with practically no expiation.

References[edit]

  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

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