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.

Vedāṅgas

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Vedāṅgas literally means ‘limbs or subsidiaries of Vedas’.

Features of Vedas[edit]

The Vedas are difficult to understand mainly due to two reasons:

  1. Their archaic language
  2. Their complicated ritual system

Evolution of Vedāṅgas[edit]

Consequently, the six Vedāṅgas were evolved from the ancient times to make them intelligible and practicable. Though the word ‘aṅga’ literally means a limb, in a more technical sense, it signifies a subsidiary field of knowledge that helps us to understand the main work. Hence, Vedāṅgas are the subsidiary sciences that help us to understand the Vedas.

Classification of Vedāṅgas[edit]

The six Vedāṅgas are:

  1. Śikṣā - phonetics
  2. Chandas - prosody
  3. Vyākaraṇa - grammar
  4. Nirukta - etymology
  5. Jyautiṣa - astronomy
  6. Kalpa - religious practice


References[edit]

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