Colonial Discourse and the Suffering of Indian American Children is now freely available.
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.

Paryagnikaraṇa

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Paryagnikaraṇa literally means ‘moving the firebrand round the melted butter’.

Ājya or ghee is an important material used in Vedic sacrifices. After it is kept in the vessel known as ājyasthālī, it has to be ceremonially purified before being offered into the consecrated fire. This is done by moving an ulmuka or a firebrand three times round the ājya contained in that vessel placed over the fire. This particular act is called ‘paryagnikaraṇa’. The whole procedure is known as ‘ājyasanskāra’.

The ājya is said to acquire a special lustre by this purification process. The fire for the firebrand is drawn from the āhavanīya fire. The other objects for paryagnikaraṇa are:

  1. Yupa - sacrificial post
  2. Āhavanīya fire
  3. Cātvāla - a pit
  4. Śāmitra - a minor fire used in Vedic sacrifices


References[edit]

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

Bangalore

Contributors to this article

Deval Sancheti

Explore Other Articles

Retrieved from "https://hindupedia.com/index.php?title=Paryagnikaraṇa&oldid=135300"