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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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Rtavya

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Rtavya literally means ‘related to the ṛtus'.

This is a technical term used to indicate the twelve mantras of the Ṛgveda.[1]

Ṛtus as per Śastras[edit]

Rtu means a season. The twelve months of the year are divided into six ṛtus:

  1. Vasanta - spring
  2. Grīṣma - summer
  3. Varṣa - rainy season
  4. Śarad - autumn
  5. Hemanta - fall
  6. Śiśira - winter

Performance of Ṛtuyājahoma[edit]

Each of these ṛtus or seasons has an abhimānī-devatā or a presiding deity. A homa or a sacrifice called Rtuyājahoma is performed with the help of the above mentioned twelve mantras to please these deities and attain heaven or other objects like strength, fame, wealth and so on. Other gods like Indra, Aśvins and Draviṇodā are also requested in these mantras to drink the soma juice that is offered and give the sacrificer good health and also a long life.

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Ṛgveda 2.36 and 37
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

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Deval Sancheti

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