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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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Lalitātriśati

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Lalitātriśati literally means ‘hymn of three hundred names of Lalitā Divine Mother’.

The sage Hayagrīva was an emanation from god Hayagriva, an aspect of Lord Viṣṇu. This sage, who was an ardent devotee of the Divine Mother Lalitā, taught the Lalitasahasranama stotra to Agastya. Even after listening to it, the sage Agastya somehow felt that there was still some vacuum in his heart. To fill this, he caught hold of the feet of the sage Hayagriva and entreated him to teach him further. Three years passed by in this way.

Then the Divine Mother Lalitādevī herself appeared and commanded Hayagrīva to teach the Lalitātriśati hymn also to the sage Agastya. Thereupon, Hayagrīva gladly taught it to him. As per this story, the Lalitātriśati is even more powerful in its efficacy than the Lalitasahasranama.

Peculiarity of Lalitātriśati[edit]

The speciality of this hymn of three hundred names of the Divine Mother Lalitā is that it contains the famous pañcadaśāksari mantra skilfully imbibed in it. Hence all the rules that are enunciated for the recitation of the bigger hymn, apply here also. The text has a purvapīṭhikā (prologue) and a phalaśruti (epilogue giving the fruits of recitation).

There is a well-known commentary on this hymn is attributed to Śaṅkara (CE 788-820) though the scholars are not unanimous about his being the original or Ādi Śaṅkara.

References[edit]

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

Contributors to this article

Apurva Mahendra Bhangdia, Deval Sancheti

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