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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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Samidh

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Samidh literally means ‘that which burns brightly’.

Trees Used for Obtaining Samidh[edit]

Offering fuel-sticks, generally called samidh, into a duly consecrated fire is a part and parcel of many rites. Some of the trees from which these sticks could be procured are:

  1. Aśvattha - Ficus religiosa
  2. Bilva - Aegle marmelos
  3. Candana - sandal-wood
  4. Devadāru - pine
  5. Khadira - Acacia catechu
  6. Nyagrodha - Indian fig-tree
  7. Palāśa - Butea frondosa

Fuel-sticks of certain trees like bibhī-taka,[1] kapittha[2] and nimba[3] should not be used. The sticks should not be thicker than the thumb. It must have the bark on them and should not be worm-eaten. The size of the stick is prādeśa.[4] There should be no branches.


References[edit]

  1. ↑ Bibhī-taka's scientific name is Terminalia bellerica.
  2. ↑ Kapittha means wood-apple tree.
  3. ↑ Nimba means neem-tree.
  4. ↑ Prādeśa means one span.
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

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