Translating the Bhagavadgita: A Workbook for Sanskrit Students

In a series of easy modules you will get a brief and practical introduction to translation technique for beginning Sanskrit students. Using an immersion method, you will create your own translation of chapter 12 of the Bhagavadgita, which is just twenty verses long. I encourage you to jump right in to create your own translation even if you aren't sure your skills are up to it. Designed for students with limited knowledge of grammar, the workbook gives "just in time" tutorial tips for each verse, along with word-by-word vocabulary, alternate translations, and tips on translation technique. Something you will not find here is heavy grammatical analysis. The goal is to get you interested in some of the beautiful ideas that this great scripture presents. Comparing several versions will give you a deeper appreciation of the decisions that translators face. The Bhagavadgita is a very old text written in Sanskrit for an audience that lived in a different culture. Can you help English readers and hear it speaking to them in today's world?The technical challenges of translating Sanskrit are an interesting subject in themselves. At all times one must balance clarity with a respect for the structure of the underlying Sanskrit verse. Given that the most important goal is to get the idea across clearly, you still have a lot of stylistic leeway in finding your own unique voice. A great translation not only says something meaningful it says it in a meaningful way.Because Sanskrit grammar and syntax are very different from English, completely literal translations sound rather odd. Word order is more flexible in Sanskrit than in English, and sometimes you must transpose the original order of ideas in order to express an idea clearly. Sanskrit uses many passive constructions, so you may need to adjust sentences to an active voice to make the sense more dynamic.Your audience matters too. Being clear depends on who your reader is and how much they know about Indian thought. You may successfully convey what the source material says, but leave everyone confused because the subject matter is difficult to understand or in conflict with some other school of thought that they have previously been exposed to. If you assume too much, you may wind up with a translation into "Indologese", incomprehensible to anyone but specialists.

Author: Les Morgan
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 03/19/2017
Pages: 108
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.34lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.22d
ISBN13: 9781540302281
ISBN10: 1540302288
BISAC Categories:
- Religion | Hinduism | Sacred Writings

About the Author
Les Morgan is the author of Study Guide to the Bhagavadgita: With Practical Concordance (2017), the companion volume to Ram Karan Sharma's Bhagavadgita. He is the author of Croaking Frogs: A Guide to Sanskrit Metrics and Figures of Speech (2011). He has an interest in both Hindu and Buddhist texts. Other current projects include a translation of the Ganesha Sahasranama and preparation of a study guide for the Samkhyakarika of Ishvarakrishna. Since 2005 he has been collaborating with R. K. Sharma to produce a concordance of poetic images in the Mahabharata and Ramayana and has co-presented with R. K. Sharma on that project at the University of California and at the 15th World Sanskrit Conference in New Delhi (2012). As a technologist he has a special interest in corpus linguistics and digital texts. He is the co-developer of the Vidyut Input Method Editor (IME), used for entry of Devanagari on Windows computers. He provides a web site where recordings of spoken Sanskrit are provided free of charge (mywhatever.com/sanskrit). He is the developer of the first bilingual software used in spaceflight by NASA on the International Space Station, with interfaces in both English and Russian. Other recent publications as an Editor and book designer include Nancy Jaicks Alexander's Just Enough (2010), Lori A. Hedderman's Preparing Your Children For Goodbye: A Guidebook For Dying Parents (2011) and Remembering Together: A Guidebook for Meaningful Conversations With Your Aging Parents (2016), Carol Pitts' Spiritual Freedom in the Brahma Sutras (2012), Peter Frentzel's Tao Te Ching: The Inner Journey (2013), and Joanne Lynn's MediCaring Communities: Getting What We Want and Need in Frail Old Age At An Affordable Cost (2016). He is the founder of Growth House, Inc. (growthhouse.org), an organization that provides education on end-of-life issues. He serves as a Senior Consultant to the Center for Elder Care and Advanced Illness, specializing in health care policy and information technology.

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