Colonial Discourse and the Suffering of Indian American Children is now freely available.
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.

Hiraṇyagarbha Sukta

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Significance[edit]

The suktas from the Ṛgveda are widely used in the Vedic sacrifices, either as prayers or as mantras for the performance of appropriate rituals. One such sukta used in Paśubandha sacrifices is the Hiranyagarbha Sukta. Though it is used as a part of Vedic ritual, this sukta has a profound philosophical import.

As per Aitareya Brāhmana[edit]

Depending on an anecdote in the Aitareya Brāhmana,[1] Sāyaṇa (14th century), the well-known commentator of the Vedas, interprets the word ‘ka’ as a name of Prajāpati (one of the aspects of God) the creator of the world. According to another interpretation, ‘ka’ means ‘bliss’. Hence the sentence would mean, ‘We offer the oblations unto God, the creator, who is bliss-personified.’

Synopsis[edit]

A brief summary of the sukta can be given as follows:

  • Hiraṇyagarbha[2] alone existed in the beginning.
  • He created the world and was its supreme monarch.
  • He was responsible for supporting heaven and earth.
  • He gave strength to all the living beings including the gods, who have been obeying his commands.
  • The Himālayas, the oceans and the rivers are reflecting his glory.
  • Due to him the Earth and heaven have been firmly established in their places. The sun and the rain-bearing clouds are performing their duties regularly.
  • The primeval waters existed before creation and Prajāpati or Hiraṇyagarbha was its witness.
  • The next verse is a prayer to him so that he does not trouble the votaries.
  • He is only capable of creating the world and prays to him for granting or fulfilling the desires of the devotes who are offering this prayer.

Complication[edit]

This sukta has ten ṛks or stanza each of which ends with the words, ‘kasmai devāya haviṣā vidhema.’ The word ‘ka’ and its dative case, ‘kasmai,’ is repeated in every stanza. It has posed a problem of interpretation. The simplest meanings are, ‘who’ and ‘to whom’. However, this direct meaning does not grammatically allow proper syntactical connection. Hence the commentators have struggled to give other interpretations.

Literature References[edit]

Originally, we find it's appearance in the Ṛgveda.[3] It is again repeated in the Taittiriya Samhitā[4] of Yajurveda and the Paippalāda Samhitā[5] of the Atharvaveda with slight changes.

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Aitareya Brāhmana 12.21
  2. ↑ He is the God, the creator, in whom the whole world existed in a seed-form like a golden egg.
  3. ↑ Ṛgveda 10.121
  4. ↑ Taittiriya Samhitā 4.1.8
  5. ↑ Paippalāda Samhitā 4.2
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

Contributors to this article

Deval Sancheti

Explore Other Articles

Retrieved from "https://hindupedia.com/index.php?title=Hiraṇyagarbha_Sukta&oldid=137254"