RE: [Y-Indology] English scholarly translations of Sanskrit texts

[Guest guest]

Many thanks Tim for this list.

 

The main thing I want to see is how closely (or not) in "good scholarly

translations" (i.e. translations useful to scholars) the translators felt

they had to follow the structures of the sanskrit sentences and paragraphs

and how much they felt they could deviate from them..

 

Many thanks,

Harry

 

 

>

>How about F. Kielhorn's translation of the Paribhasendusekhara...? ;-)

>

>Seriously, some translations I admire are:

>

>S. Pollock's tr. of the Ramayana

>P. Olivelle's tr. of the Upanisads

>L. Rocher's tr. of Jimutavahana's Dayabhaga

>Ingalls, Masson & Patwardhan's tr. of the Dhvanyaloka

>W.H. Maurer's tr. of Vedic hymns

>D. Wujastyk's tr. of the Vyadiyaparibhasavrtti

>

>best wishes,

>Tim

>

>

>

>

> Links

>

>

> INDOLOGY/

>

>

> INDOLOGY

>

>Your

>

>

>

 

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[Guest guest]

Hello, Harry!

 

I don't think there are good translations and bad translations as far as

scholarly translations are concerned. In my field of interest (Nyaya-Vaisesika

and Yoga), there are useful translations and confusing translations. Useful

translations are those that help you better understand the text you want

translated or to translate. There are hundreds of translations of Yoga-sutra,

but when you start reading Yogadarsanam, edited by Gosvami Damodara Sastri and

published in 1935, you start wondering what is the original source the most

translators have translated from.

 

Scholarly translation is an ideal in itself, a never-ending story which requires

more and more subcommentaries to grasp and represent the entire universe of

meaning sometimes behing a single word. The result might well be a tatally

unreadable book that no published will ever publish. So, I presume, the best

scholarly translations have not yet been published. What we have is reliable

scholarly translations.

 

Kindest Regards,

 

PG

 

 

[Guest guest]

On scholarly translations

 

It seems to me that translations have but one purpose: to convey to those

unfamiliar with a language the content and spirit of a great work (literary,

philosophical, scientific, whatever) into a language with which the interested

reader may be more familiar.

 

It is true that sometimes translations do serve to educate those are learning

another language by providing a word by word rendering. But this is only a

secondary goal, if at all.

 

By and large, anyone who wishes to grasp the full import of a text in the

original ought to take the time and spend the energy to learn the language in

question. Also, one cannot make meaningful scholarly research by relying on

translations alone.

 

What is important in a good (reliable) translation is that the translator be

faithful to the spirit and content of the original, not so much to the syntax

and the literal meanings of the (sometimes untranslatable) words.

 

Consider the famous line from the BalakANDa where VishvAmitra says:

 

dhik balam kshatriya balam brahmathejo balam balam!

 

This may be translated as:

 

Shame on kshatria might! the tejas (untranslatable) of a Brahmin alone

is real strength.

 

Or, as:

 

Fie unto the warrior's might! Only the spiritual power of the pure of

heart is true might.

 

The first is certainly more authentic. But the second conveys the essence of the

idea even to those unfamiliar with the conceptual (Hindu) framework of the quote

in question.

 

In this sense, Olivelle's excellent transcreation of Upanishads is far more

effective than certain word by word translations of the great texts.

 

 

 

V. V. Raman

 

January 22, 2003

 

-

Plamen Gradinarov

INDOLOGY

Thursday, January 22, 2004 12:21 PM

Re: [Y-Indology] English scholarly translations of Sanskrit texts

 

 

Hello, Harry!

 

I don't think there are good translations and bad translations as far as

scholarly translations are concerned. In my field of interest (Nyaya-Vaisesika

and Yoga), there are useful translations and confusing translations. Useful

translations are those that help you better understand the text you want

translated or to translate. There are hundreds of translations of Yoga-sutra,

but when you start reading Yogadarsanam, edited by Gosvami Damodara Sastri and

published in 1935, you start wondering what is the original source the most

translators have translated from.

 

Scholarly translation is an ideal in itself, a never-ending story which

requires more and more subcommentaries to grasp and represent the entire

universe of meaning sometimes behing a single word. The result might well be a

tatally unreadable book that no published will ever publish. So, I presume, the

best scholarly translations have not yet been published. What we have is

reliable scholarly translations.

 

Kindest Regards,

 

PG

 

 

 

 

 

 

Links

 

INDOLOGY/

 

b..

INDOLOGY

 

c..

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

We have discussed the problem of translations from Sanskrit, at length,

in a 1995 conference. It has been published in HOS-Opera Minora. Stress

is on (1) experience of a number of scholars with translation from

Skt., (2) theoretical issues. Treats texts from the Vedas to fairly

recent Bhakti texts.

 

If you want to have this book, please write to me offline, and I can

arrange getting a copy to you.

 

Otherwise, go to South Asia Books, MO, where it still should be in

stock with a few copies. http://www.southasiabooks.com

 

Details:

HOS OPERA MINORA (HOS-OM)

Vol. 1 Translating, Translations, Translators. From India to the West.

[based on symposium held at Harvard University in May 1994, with

contributions by other international scholars]. Edited by E. Garzilli.

Cambridge1997. Pages xvii, 190. Price $ 22

 

-----

Michael Witzel

Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, Harvard University

1 Bow Street , Cambridge MA 02138

1-617-495 3295 Fax: 496 8571

direct line: 496 2990

http://witzel (AT) fas (DOT) harvard.edu/~witzel/mwpage.htm