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 expose the correspondence between textbooks and the colonial-racist discourse. This racist discourse 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.

Svarupalakṣana

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By Swami Harshananda

Svarupalakṣana literally means ‘essential characteristic’.

According to the Advaita Vedānta the integral or essential characteristic[1] of Brahman is ‘sat-cit- ānanda[2] whereas the taṭasthalakṣaṇa[3] is responsible for creation, preservation and dissolution of this world. An example can make these ideas more clear.

While indicating the house of Devadatta, one can point out the direction of its location through the extended branch of a mango tree nearby. The house itself can be described as built of bricks with a tiled roofs, green in color. The mango tree and its branch stands for the taṭasthalakṣaṇa and the house delineates the svarupalakṣaṇa. It should be noted that the taṭasthalakṣaṇa has nothing to do with the object described though it certainly helps in locating or recognizing it.


References[edit]

  1. Essential characteristic means svarupalakṣaṇa.
  2. Sat-cit- ānanda means existence-consciousness-bliss.
  3. Taṭasthalakṣaṇa means accidental characteristics.
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore