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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.

Dharmaskandha

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Dharmaskandha literally means ‘branch of dharma’.

Dharmaskandha Classification[edit]

Dharmaskandha is an expression peculiar only to the Chāndogya Upaniṣad.[1] ‘Skandha’ means a division. ‘Dharma’ means a way of life. The three ways or skandhas of life mentioned have been referred to in this work. According to this Upaniṣad, all of them go to puṇyalokas or heavenly regions attained by religious merits. These skandhas are:

  1. As a house-holder
  2. As a forest dweller
  3. As a Vedic Student

First Dharmaskandha[edit]

The householder is the primary dharmaskandha. He keeps and tends the Vedic fires and performs sacrifices. He also studies the Vedas to retain the knowledge he has already gained. Giving gifts to the needy is his another duty.

Second Dharmaskandha[edit]

The forest-dweller and a mendicant is the second dharmaskandha. He is supposed to observe ‘tapas’ or austerity, because he leads an austere life.

Third Dharmaskandha[edit]

The Vedic student entirely devoted to the study of the scriptures and service to the guru is the third dharmaskandha.


References[edit]

  1. ↑ Chāndogya Upaniṣad 2.23.1.
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

Contributors to this article

Krishna Maheshwari, Deval Sancheti

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