Colonial Discourse and the Suffering of Indian American Children Book Cover.webp

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.

Haviṣya

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Haviṣya literally means ‘that which is fit to be offered in sacrifice’.

Haviṣya or haviṣyānna is any food fit or pure enough to be offered in a sacrifice. Food normally consumed by the forest hermits like milk, soma juice, boiled food without spices or the food to be offered to the brāhmaṇas and the invitees of śrāddhas is called as haviṣyānna.

Those observing religious vows either as prāyaścitta (expiation for sins) or otherwise are expected to subsist on haviṣyānna during that period. The haviṣyānna is generally prepared out of boiled grains like rice, wheat and barley, but without spices or salt being pure and sāttvika, was believed to aid the concerned persons with a better frame of mind for the observance of the ritual.

References[edit]

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