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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.

Haihsa

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Haṃsa literally means ‘that which moves gracefully’.

Haṃsa is one of the words in Sanskrit that has been used in several senses like:


Variants of the word Haṃsa includes:

  • Swan : The bird swan is the most widely accepted meaning. It was believed in the ancient days that the bird swan had the special power to separate milk from water and drink it, leaving the water behind.[1] This gave rise to the maxim "Haṃsa-ksīra-nyāya". It means the capacity to separate the good from the bad, accept only the good and reject the bad.
  • Type of Sanyāsin : Sanyāsin-s (ascetics) have been divided into four orders, of which the ‘hamsa-s’ are the third. They do not stay for more than one night in a village. They reside outside the village in the night. They enter it only for alms and carry one daṇḍa or staff.
  • A Mantra : The mantra “so’ham haṃsah” (‘He is myself and I am He’) is called ‘haṃsa mantra’. It is specially used by the sanyāsin of the advaita school of philosophy for constant japa or repetition.
  • A Journal : Haṃsa was one of the generals of the Magadhan emperor Jarāsandha mentioned in the Mahābhārata.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Śukla Yajurveda 19.73
  2. ↑ Sabhāparva, 13
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

Contributors to this article

Deval Sancheti, Apurva Mahendra Bhangdia

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