Western Translations

[Satyamavejayanti]

I think there is still confusion and misconception of what exactly Arya (Aryan) means, in the modern historical sense its a Race of people (Nazi, white blue eyed blond hair), In Sanskrit it means noble.

I have had trouble with translations of westerners of this word, early on translators such as Griffith and Wilson were under the impression of it being a race, but i think they knew it was not word to denote a race, and they purposely ignored other texts that contradicted their view, and to prove this i have a simple Rig Veda quote.

Rig Veda says "Krunvanto Vishwam Aryam". ( 9.63.5), also motto of Arya Samaj..

Means, ennoble the universe, or make the world noble.

Wilson - "Augmenting Indra,urging the waters,making all our acts prsperous,destroying witholders of oblatins"

Driving away the godless ones." (Griffith's translation)

But to Griffith the words "Krunvanto" and "Vishwam" do not exist. To Wilson, all three words do not exist in the verse.

I have read that the cardinal mimansa (translation rule i think) rule of interpreation is "Yatha Vachanam Tatha vachanikam" (Read it as it is without adding anything or subtracting anything)

So to those who don't understand Sanskrit, i would stay away from Griffith and Wilson translations.

 

[ratikala]

dear prabhu ji ,

I have had trouble with translations of westerners of this word, early on translators such as Griffith and Wilson were under the impression of it being a race, but i think they knew it was not word to denote a race, and they purposely ignored other texts that contradicted their view, and to prove this i have a simple Rig Veda quote.

similarly I have problems with some western translations and can understand your feelings .

I do not nessecarily think that they purpously ignored other texts , I think it is possible that they simply didnt understand and tried to put things into a perspective that the western mind could comprehend .

the western mind thinks in terms of peoples being of phisical or ethnological type , therefore being of one race or another .as the western mind is thinking along the lines of peoples and their historys , focusing on their origins and type .
the vedas when drawing divisions in society are dividing the noble from the ignoble thus instead of the conception of an ethnalogical race the vedas refer to a social division the noble and ignoble , the pure and the impure , the pious and the impious .

yes also I have seen translations where original portions are missing , I have assumed that they could not fit the vedic principles in to the western mind set so simply took them out to save confusion .... but ultimately by doing so they have caused confusion !!!

for this reason I avoid translations by academics and try to stick to genuine texts which have their roots in some form of true diciplic sucession .

of course for me it is difficult , I need translations ,

do you have any favorites that you would recomend as good translations ?

for example whos gita would you recomend for its translation?

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[HerDotness]

Sometimes it is not the fault of the translator nor any misunderstanding but rather that words or ideas in a language have no good equal in meaning in the language to which the text is being translated. Translators must then be more general than may be desirable for those who wish to understand the meaning of the text.

This is a problem with translating non-religious texts, too.

 

[Wannabe Yogi]

Sometimes it is not the fault of the translator nor any misunderstanding but rather that words or ideas in a language have no good equal in meaning in the language to which the text is being translated. Translators must then be more general than may be desirable for those who wish to understand the meaning of the text.

This is a problem with translating non-religious texts, too.

Very True. But when it comes to Hinduism there was (at times) an agenda by the early translators. This agenda still haunts modern college classes like Charles Dickens ghost of Christmas past terrorized Scrooge. It's just the agenda of translators do not intend for the best interest of Hinduism, like the "Christmas Carol" ghost had the best interest of Scrooge in mind.

 

[Satyamavejayanti]

ratikala;2868463]dear prabhu ji ,
similarly I have problems with some western translations and can understand your feelings .

of course for me it is difficult , I need translations ,

Its not just you, i need translations too, the only advantage i have is my spoken language (hindi), but that only helps in understanding the concepts and sometime the puns and cultural significances of few words and mantras.
It might take me 30min to understand 1 word in Sanskrit let alone a full mantra. I rely on the English translations more then anything.

do you have any favorites that you would recomend as good translations ?

The only reliable (not 100% accurate) Veda translations ive found are the Swami Dayanand for Rig (incomplete) and Atharva by Vaidyanath Shastri, Devi Chand for Yajur and Sama by Pt.Dharam Dev, but i still have to use my own understanding of the translated english (my second language).

Try also supplementary readings like:

THE HOLY VEDAS ( English )
Author :
Pt.Satyakam Vidyalankar

PHILOSOPHY OF THE VEDAS ( English )
Author :
K.M.Talreja

SECRET OF THE VEDAS ( English )
Author :
Sri Arvind

A Comprehensive History of Vedic Literature (Brahmana and Aranyaka Works) ( English )
Author :
Shri Satya Shrava

for example whos gita would you recomend for its translation?

hmm, the only place is the net, i cant recommend any particular one, but if you are interested in reading a lot of books, then try:

The Bhagavad Gita ( English )
Author :
Swami Chidbhavananda

The Bhagavad Gita ( English )
Author :
Shri Swami Sivananda

GITA RAHASYA ( English )
Author :
Balgangadhar Tilak