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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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Gadā

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Gadā literally means ‘mace or club’.

Gadā

The gadā or the mace is one of the ancient weapons used in direct fighting. It is frequently mentioned in the two great epics and the purāṇas. Fighting with the gadā, gadā-yuddha, had been developed into a well-developed art. The experts in wielding this weapon were:

  1. Hanumān
  2. Balarāma
  3. Bhīma
  4. Duryodhana

The gadās of famous warriors had their special names. Viṣṇu’s mace was called ‘Kaumodakī’. It had been prepared by Viśvakarma, the celestial artisan, from the bones of an exceedingly strong demon Gadāsura. Sometimes Kaumodaki is picturized as a goddess standing on the right side of Viṣṇu.

The gadās are of various sizes and shapes. They are made out of hard wood or iron. Gadādhara is one of the names of Viṣṇu since he holds the gadā named Kaumodaki. He used it to kill the demon Heti. The form of Viṣṇu presiding in the pilgrim center of Gayā is also ‘Gadādhara’ or ‘Ādi-gadādhara’.


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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