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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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Talk:Dhanvantari

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Dhanvantari

Āyurveda is an ancient science of health and longevity. Dhanvantari is said to be the inventor of this science.

Dhanvantari Origin[edit]

Dhanvantari is considered as a partial manifestation of Viṣṇu and the physician of the gods. During the churning of ocean of milk, he rose with the amṛta-kalaśa or pot of ambrosia in his hands.

Rebirth as Divodāsa[edit]

Dhanvantari was reborn as Divodāsa, the king of Kāśī and composed a standard and basic work on the Āyurveda, comprising of eight sections.

Dhanvantari, The Title[edit]

Eventually, ‘Dhanvantari’ became a title for the best physician. The reference parameters were decided as per expertise. It is mentioned below:

  1. Dhanvantari - expert of 300 medicines.
  2. Bhiṣak - expert of 200 medicines
  3. Vaidya - expert of 100 medicines

Iconographic Representation[edit]

Dhanvantari icons are shown in various postures. It can be represented as:

  • A two-armed figure holding the amrtakalaśa or the pot of ambrosia is the most common.
  • He is shown with four or even six arms, holding the emblems of Viṣṇu like śaṅkha and cakra, apart from the amrtakalaśa.
  • Sometimes he is shown as bathing himself with the amṛta or nectar, pouring it from the pot.
  • In one of the more curious forms he is shown holding a leach in one of his hands, suggesting blood-letting or surgery.

Works by Dhanvantari[edit]

Nineteen works authored by Dhanvantari have found mention in other standard works. Some of them are:

  1. Cikitsā-dipikā
  2. Bālacikitsā
  3. Dhanvantari-nighantu
  4. Vaidya-bhāskarodaya
  5. Āyurveda- sārāvali

The Dhanvantari-nighantu is considered as the most ancient of these works.

Textual References[edit]

Dhanvantari has been mentioned in several works such as Rāmāyana, Harivamśa and Bhāgavata.

References[edit]

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