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.

Rasa

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Rasa literally means ‘that which is tasted’.

General Meaning[edit]

One of the most extensively used words is Rasa. It has 24 different meanings and senses. In general, it means the essence or core-part of anything.

As per Darśanas[edit]

In the darśanas[1] it stands for the subtle element water.[2]

As per Ayurveda[edit]

In the Ayurveda and allied health sciences, it stands for mercury.

As per Culinary Arts[edit]

In the culinary arts, it represents six different kinds of tastes:

  1. Sweet
  2. Sour
  3. Salty
  4. Hot[3]
  5. Bitter
  6. Astringent

As per Poetics[edit]

In poetics, it stands for the navarasas or nine kinds of sentiments or emotions. They are:

  1. The amorous
  2. The heroic
  3. The wondrous
  4. The ridiculous
  5. The sentiments of compassion
  6. Humor
  7. Fear
  8. Horror
  9. Loathsomeness

As per Taittirīyopaniṣad[edit]

The Taittirīyopaniṣad[4] calls Brahman as rasa.


References[edit]

  1. Darśanas are the philosophical systems.
  2. It is called as ‘rasātan mātra’.
  3. It refers to pepper or chilies.
  4. Taittirīyopaniṣad 2.7
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

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