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.

Gāndharva

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Gāndharva literally means ‘pertaining to the Gandharvas’.

The dharmaśāstras declare vivāha or marriage, not as a social contract, but as a sanskāra, religious sacrament.

In gāndharva vivāha, the boy and the girl decide by themselves to marry and then get the approval of their parents and guardians. The svayaṃvara system among the kṣattriya kings belongs to this type. The type of marriage is seen in the Ṛgveda[1] among other texts.


References[edit]

  1. Ṛgveda 10.27.12
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore