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.

Samhitopaniṣad Brāhmaṇa

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Significance of Samhitopaniṣad Brāhmaṇa[edit]

Samhitopaniṣad Brāhmaṇa is one of the Brāhmaṇas of the Sāmaveda available now. It is said to have the characteristics of a Samhitā, a Brāhmaṇa and an Upaniṣad. Hence it is named so. It has five khaṇḍas or sections. The following are the brief contents:

First Khanda[edit]

This contains an exposition of three kinds of sāmagāna as:

  1. Daiva
  2. Āsura
  3. Ārṣa

Second Khanda[edit]

In this section a number of technical terms like:

  • Krsaria - prolonging a syllable in a chant by inserting more tones
  • Stobha - musical interjections like hā u, hāi, hum
  • Characteristics of a yajamāna[1] and the udgātṛ[2]

Third Khanda[edit]

Uhas to be sung in sacrifices are described here. It is also stressed that the sāmans are to be taught only to worthy candidates. Six rules concerning the teaching of the sāmans are also described.

Fourth and Fifth Khandas[edit]

The subjects discussed here includes the greatness of the guru[3] and the qualifications of a disciple, guru-dakṣiṇā or the fees to be paid to the teacher and how a mantra becomes a sāman.

Commentaries[edit]

Two commentaries available on this work are:


References[edit]

  1. ↑ Yajamāna means the sacrificer.
  2. ↑ Udgātṛ means main singer of the sāmans.
  3. ↑ Guru means preceptor.
  4. ↑ He lived in A. D. 1315-1387.
  • 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=Samhitopaniṣad_Brāhmaṇa&oldid=135613"