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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.


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.

Antahkaraṇa

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Antahkaraṇa literally means ‘the inner instrument’.

The general name by which mind is known in the scriptural works is ‘antahkaraṇa,’ the ‘inner (antah) instrument (karaṇa).’ Even though the external sense-organs like the eye or the ear are functioning, no cognition becomes possible unless the mind is connected with them. This is the significance of the name.

There are three states of consciousness:

  1. Jāgrat - Waking state
  2. Svapna - Dream state
  3. Suśupti - Deep sleep state

The antahkaraṇa is actively functioning in the first two state and dormant in the third state.

This antahkaraṇa functions in four different ways and gets four different names according to the functions. While functioning as the receptive and retentive faculty it is called ‘citta’ or mind-stuff; as the questioning, doubting and willing faculty, it is called ‘manas’ or mind; as the deciding faculty it is called ‘buddhi’ or intelligence; and as the identifying faculty which identifies itself with each of these functions and it is called ‘ahaṅkāra’ or the ego.

These words are sometimes used to mean the antahkaraṇa or mind as a whole and sometimes mean the particular faculty indicated. The sense in which they are used has to be made out from the context.

References[edit]

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

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