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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.

Kanyakā-Parameśvarī

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Kanyakā-Parameśvarī is the patron goddess of the vaiśya community especially in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. It is said that once Brahmā asked Jayanta, the son of Indra, to fight and kill a demon named Satajihva. His mother Sacīdevī intervened and prevented him from going due to the fear of himself being killed in the process. This enraged Brahmā who cursed her to be born on the earth among the vaiśyas.

She was born as the daughter of Kusumaśreṣthi and named Vāsavāmbā. A king named Viṣṇuvardhana proposed to get married to her. Since the members of the community refused, the king threatened to fight and kill them. But before he could do it, a large section of the community led by Vāsavāmbā herself immolated themselves in the fire. In course of time, she was deified into the goddess Kanyakāparameśvarī. Her temples are generally found in the places where the vaiśyas are concentrated. Another story identifies her with Pārvatī.


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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