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.

Adhiṣṭhāna

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Adhiṣṭhāna literally means ‘base, support, substratum’.

This word is used in Vedānta to discuss the theory of illusory perception. Specifically, it is used to denote the substratum wherein the illusion occurs. For instance, when a snake is perceived in a rope, or silver in nacre, the rope or the nacre forms the ‘adhiṣṭhāna’ or substratum, for this illusory perception. Ignorance of this adhiṣṭhāna causes the illusion and its true knowledge dispels it.

While enumerating the five causes responsible for the accomplishment of every action, the Bhagavadgitā puts ‘adhiṣṭhāna’ as the first in the list. The word is interpreted there as the body, since the body is the primary basis necessary for all actions.

In works on architecture including temple architecture, the word denotes the basement of a building or even a column. Innumerable varieties of the same are detailed in those works.

In Civics, the word was used to indicate a seat of administration like a city-council.

References[edit]

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