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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.


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Snātaka

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Snātaka literally means ‘one who has taken the ceremonial bath after student-hood’.

Snātaka, Definition[edit]

A brahmacārin[1] was expected to take a ceremonial bath at the end of his student-period and seek the permission of his guru to return home after paying the gurudakṣiṇā.[2] Such an one was called ‘snātaka’.

Types of Snātaka[edit]

Snātakas were of three types:

  1. Vidyāsnātaka - one who had finished the course of Vedic studies but had not kept the Vedavratas or Vedic vows
  2. Vrata-snātaka - one who had kept the vows but could not complete the course in the stipulated period
  3. Vidyāvratasnātaka - one who had finished both

The last one was considered as the best of the three and was highly respected.

Attributes of Snātaka[edit]

  • He could then return home and settle down as a gṛhastha or householder.
  • A snātaka could be introduced to an assemblage of learned men by his guru.
  • The dharmaśāstras give innumerable rules for a snātaka to observe.
  • Most of them are concerned with his physical safety and maintenance of the purity of his life.


References[edit]

  1. ↑ Brahmacārin means a Vedic student living in the house of his guru.
  2. ↑ Gurudakṣiṇā means fees.
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

Contributors to this article

Deval Sancheti

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