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.

Varṇasañkara

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Varṇasañkara literally means ‘intermixing of varṇas or castes’.

Varṇaśañkara Definition[edit]

Though the leaders of the society, especially the king and the brāhmaṇas, were very particular in preserving the purity of the varṇa system, mixing up did take place giving rise to several sub-castes and their offshoots. This mixing up[1] was called Varṇaśañkara or intermixing of varṇas.

Repercussions of Varṇasañkara[edit]

This was considered bad for the society. Though anuloma marriages were tolerated and pratiloma marriages were frowned upon, Varṇaśañkara could not be prevented. Even by the time of the Mahābhārata Varṇaśañkara had already taken place to a large extent. It was the duty of the king to see that purity of the varṇa-āśrama-dharma or system was kept up and punishment awarded to the transgressors.[2]


References[edit]

  1. ↑ It means a person of one varṇa marrying a person of another varṇa and having children by that union.
  2. ↑ Gautama Dharmasutras 11.9 and 10
  • 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=Varṇasañkara&oldid=136168"