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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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Mahāvrata

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Mahāvrata literally means ‘the great observance’.

This is a rite that is performed on the penultimate day of the Gavāmayana sacrifice. In this rite a cup of soma juice is offered with the chanting of the mahāvrata-sāman. It is one of the well-known mantras of the Sāmaveda. An animal is sacrificed for the deity Prajāpati.

Some of the interesting sidelights of this mahāvrata rite are:

  • Playing on the Vāṇa or a harp by a brāhmaṇa
  • The udgātṛ priest sitting on a chair of the udumbara wood
  • The hotṛ priest sitting on a preṅkhā or swing
  • Wordy duel between a brāhmaṇa and a śudra as a part of the ritual


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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