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.

Vijātiyabheda

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Vijātiyabheda literally means ‘differences based on different species’.

Classification of Bheda[edit]

Bheda or difference is one of the concepts discussed in the Vedāntic treatises to establish the nature of the ultimate realities. It is generally classified into three varieties:

  1. Sajātīyabheda - Among number of cows, one cow is different from another cow. This is an example of sajātiyabheda or difference within the same category.
  2. Vijātīyabheda - A cow and a horse are different from one another because they belong to different jātis or categories. This is an example of vijātīyabheda.
  3. Svagatabheda - Within the body of a cow, the horns, the legs, the tail and the ears are all different from one another. This is the example for svagatabheda or internal differences.

Bheda as per Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta[edit]

The Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta of Rāmānuja[1] does not accept the first two kinds of bhedas in Brahman but accepts the third. According to this, the jīvas[2] and the prakṛti[3] which is also called as cit[4] and acit[5] are the internal parts of īśvara or Brahman.


References[edit]

  1. He lived in A. D. 1017-1137.
  2. Jīvas means the individual souls which are infinite in number.
  3. Prakṛti means the insentient nature.
  4. Cit means conscious entity.
  5. Acit means unconscious matter.
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore