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.

Nāthamuni

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Śrīvaiṣṇavism is a sect of Vaiṣṇavism. Vaiṣṇavism is the religion and philosophy of the Vaiṣṇavas or worshipers of Lord Viṣṇu mostly followed in South India, especially in the States of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The twelve Ālvārs and the three Ācāryas laid the foundation for this sect.

Among the ācāryas, Nāthamuni also known as Raṅganātha Muni and Raṅga nāthācārya was the first. He was the son of īśvarabhaṭṭa and Tāmaraiyā. He was born in A. D. 823 at Kāṭṭumannār Koil or Vīranārāyaṇapura in the district of South Arcot near Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu. He was a contemporary of the two Ālvārs:

  1. Madhurakavi Ālvār
  2. Nammālvār

He is said to have been trained in yoga by the Nammālvār. He collected all the four thousand Tamil hymns of the Ālvārs now known as Divyaprabandham or Nālāyira prabandha. He set them to music and got them introduced in Vaiṣṇava temples as a part of the ritual system. He was ably assisted in this task by his two highly talented nephews, Melaiyāgattālvār and Maṇavālapperumāl Araiyar who were good musicians.

Nāthamuni traveled all over the country, especially the pilgrim centers devoted to Viṣṇu. He endeavored to spread Śrīvaiṣṇavism there. He was the first Ācārya[1] of the Śrīvaiṣṇava sect. He was also in charge of the administration of the Raṅganātha Temple at Śrīraṅgam. He is said to have written three treatises. They are:

  1. Nyāyatattva
  2. Yoga rahasya
  3. Puruṣanirnaya

These works served as the guide-books for the later ācāryas. They were:

  1. Yāmuna - He lived in A. D. 912-1042
  2. Rāmānuja - He lived in A. D. 1017-1137
  3. Vedānta Deśika - He lived in A. D. 1268-1369


References[edit]

  1. Ācārya means pontiff.
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore