Thanks. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "L B Shriver" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Response below. > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, new.morning <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Mason" <premanandpaul@> > > wrote: > > > > > > 'Bhagavad' is the word used in the text (I just double-checked). But > > > of course the transcriber could have misheard or indeed the > > > typesetter might have mispelled the word. But either way, Bhagavan or > > > Bhagavad, same really, means 'Lord' or 'God' or 'OMnipotent One'. > > > > > > I wouldn't describe myself as 'fluent', no, but on the other hand I > > > do check every single word and the words I don't know I look up in > > > one of my dictionaries, I use four different Hindi dictionaries > > > (Allied, Oxford, National & Bhargava's), and a M-W Sanskrit 'slab'. > > > Any new definitions get added to a database, which enables me, with > > > the help of MSaccess, to offer text and get a list of all available > > > words related to the current translation. This can be really useful > > > when Guru Dev uses obscure terms which he sometimes does. > > > > > > Although it would be preferable to be really fluent, the downside of > > > a fluent speaker is that they are unlikely to look up commonly used > > > words & as a consequence can miss an obscure meaning. > > > > Thanks. I laud yours and others, such as LB's, efforts. Its valuable > > to me. The more I read, some pretty fundamental quetions arise. See > > adjacent posts. > > > > However, my sense of your process,and that of LB's editing of his copy > > of the material (its the same "source" -- hindi manuscript -- for both > > of you,correct?), is that while its thorough and meticulous, it may be > > subject to the "poetry" effect of Bly and ? mentioned in posts a few > > days ago regarding arabic / sufi poetry. > > > > That is, do you you have a sense of what SBS "must" have meant, and > > the 2-20 meanings in the dictionary for each word are chosen to jibe > > with that "must be" area of meaning? What if your feeling is wrong? > > Then again, translators not having that "must be" feeling may produce > > "disasters". > > ******** > > When I first starting working on the translation, I sometimes went by the "must have > meant" method. Early in the game I realized that was unsatisfactory. I realized that I could > render a paragraph that would read OK to most readers, but which could be wrong. To > that end, I aquired more professional help and outside consultants with "subject matter > expertise". (They will be credited in the book.) > > The goal of my work has been to render, insofar as possible without distortion or > speculation, WHAT HE ACTUALLY SAID. Nothing more, nothing less. > > ******** > > > And what about idioms, yogi slang :), and regional meanings of the > > words? If one is either not fluent in hindi, and/or not intimately > > current on the syntax and venacular of yogis and swamis 1920-1950, can > > some meanings be missed? > > ******** > > Brahmanandaji spoke vernacular hindi with a slight flavor that the translators described as > somewhat regional or antiquated, yet eloquent without being elegant. Although there are > occasional obscure idioms (annoted in the text), for the most part his delivery is dirt > simple. For some of the discourses I have had as many as 4 original translations to work > from, and a minimum of 3 for the entire set. I have found little disagreement or variation. > > Some of my TM based readers have suggested alterations based on TM doctrine (we know > what this word must really mean) but I have generally not found such alternations to be > justified by the context. > > In cases where doubts arose, I made it my business to get second and third opinions. > > There is no such thing as a perfect translation, but the one I am offering has survived > profound scrutiny, and I am confident that it reflects WHAT HE ACTUALLY SAID. > > L B S >
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