Ripples do not translate
into shudders.
The deck
has always been so;
the undertug muted,
a slow undulation-
This moment
holds eternity
in a picture of peace
except that
a distant bird lets out a triumphant cry
as silver fish flash
slow in the sedate waves.
Lovely!
ReplyDelete-ashu
Thank you- I remember this particular verse from your last post:
ReplyDelete"मय्यनंतमहांभोधौ चित्तवाते प्रशाम्यति।
अभाग्याज्जीववणिजो जगत्पोतो विनश्वरः॥२- २४॥
In the infinite ocean of myself, the wind of thought subsides, and the world boat of the living-being traders is wrecked by lack of goods. 2.24 "
- Ashtavakra Gita : Part 2.
Though the words, "world boat of the living-being traders" is somewhat ambiguous. I think it is an exact translation of sanskrit text, but would gain from a more idiomatic expression.
Looking forward to more of astavakra gita.
Pls do not mistake me. I am far away from understanding this kind of stuff. Can you help me understand this. Is this something like Manushyaputhran's kavithai in Tamil?
ReplyDelete@giri nothing like that at all! :) will try to come up with a tamil translation!
ReplyDeletethank you.
now okay?
ReplyDeleteஅமைதியின் காட்சி
இப்போ தண்ணியில் ஏற்படற சலனங்கள் அதிர வெக்கறதில்ல...
மேல் தளம் எப்போவும் இப்படிதான இருந்திச்சு...
தண்ணி எதிர் திசையிலே இழுக்கற வேகம் அடங்கிருச்சி...
இந்த கணம் தன கையிலே நித்தியத்தையும் வெச்சிருக்கி...
இதோ இந்த அமைதியின் காட்சியப் பாருங்க...
ஆனா ஒன்னு
ஒரு தூரப் பறவை ஜெயிட்டேன்னு கத்துது
ஒரு வெள்ளி மீன் மின்னுதில்ல
அலுங்காத அலைகளிலே மேல்லனவா போகையிலே...
As I had said, the translation is a little rusty. Let me bring out translation using individual words and perhaps then it would be clear. Brackets contain sanskrit words.
ReplyDelete---
"in my infinite(anantam) ocean like Self, the unsteady-mind(chitta-vata) attains shanti(prashaamyatii)
Just like owing to misfortune(abhagya) a trader(vaNij) loses(vinishwara) his world (jagat)with the ship(pot) .
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So, he is comparing the Self to ocean, and the individuality of jeeva(being) to a trader in boat, life to samsara. And just like when a boat capsizes the whole world(jagat) of trader is lost. He says just like that misfortune of jeeva, who lost his everything in ocean, I lost my everything(mind generated world) in the ocean of Self.
Hope its clear now
Once again, as I said already, the translation is correct but not exact :)
-ashu
@Giri: You are not far away. If at all you are, its a blessing, avoid the disease as much as possible :)
@I This discussion is going somewhere else, but I am happy about that.
ReplyDeleteThe quoted translation makes better sense only to someone with a knowledge of sanskrit- I think. As you say, when you compare the translation with the original, then alone it is okay- I understand what it means now, but then when I read the original I had trouble making sense of it.
I remember having read somewhere about Iswara srishti and Jiva srishti (please correct if any of what i say is wrong). In Iswara srishti there is no distinction and only in Jiva srishti is duality. To put it simply, the world of individuality is a fragmented one.
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The translation you have provided brings out the beauty of the verse:
""in my infinite(anantam) ocean like Self, the unsteady-mind(chitta-vata) attains shanti(prashaamyatii)
Just like owing to misfortune(abhagya) a trader(vaNij) loses(vinishwara) his world (jagat)with the ship(pot).'
The world of the trader is the world of assets and liabilities, credit and balance etc (and of course, membership in trade associations, rotary club etc- all this depend on his solvency). When his ship goes down (like in 'The Tempest', if you remember) that whole world that depended commerce is barred to him.
The annihilation of a imagined world cannot be described better, I think. Beautiful verse.
Thanks a lot.
Regards,
baskar
PS: In Ramana mahrshi's Arunachala akshara mana malai is this verse: "pokkum varavum illa pothu veliyinil arul porattangaat arunachala" (verse 74).
Prof T.M.P. Mahadevan translates it as "O Arunachala! In the common space, where there is neither going not coming, show me the battle that is waged by Grace".
Pokkuvaratthu is Tamil is traffic. This word is commonly used in devotional poems in the sense of transaction.
And it is interesting to note that
the etymology of the word, commerce is given as "1530s, from M.Fr. commerce, from L. commercium "trade, trafficking," from com- "together" + merx (gen. mercis) "merchandise""
Commerce is tied together with traffic. So when we speak of the trader who has lost his world, the association that comes with this is the ending of all transactions: there is no pokku varatthu (going out or coming in).
sorry, long reply.
Having said that, let me indulge some more in verbal gymnastics:
ReplyDeleteTrading depends on solvency. And Commerce is a direct outcome of traffic and transaction. And when a trader loses his boat, he has no means of traffic for want of goods, and is disqualified from transacting because he has no assets. We call him insolvent.
And interestingly, solvent is itself a term that originally meant "1653, "able to pay all one owes," from Fr. solvent, from L. solventem (nom. solvens), prp. of solvere "loosen, dissolve" (see solve). Noun meaning "substance able to dissolve other substances" first recorded 1671."
This man, the trader who possessed something (money in the form of goods in a ship) that could help him dissolve all other substances and remake them to build a world of his own- a home of his design etc-, suffers the misfortune of having that solvent material itself dissolve in the ocean!
This is so like ego (individuality- a drop, a bubble) losing itself in the infinite ocean of Self!
Thanks a lot...
Original is Original. Certainly. Translation, particularly of these kind of texts can be, at best, an intellectual attempt, nothing more. The experience of Ashtavakra is unfathomable(to me). One can only use associations and express one's interpretation.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do translate some stuff on Stutimandal, sporadically, it gets harder for me to translate every verse, especially, large texts. That said, as I had remarked, translation may not be exact but it is correct :-). In any case, even my own translation, can have its flaws.
Most Sanskrit words used here are words we use in Indian languages too, so in that sense everyone can understand the texts to some degree. Think of trying to explain this simple word ‘Maya’ to someone who grew up in west. Its difficult, trust me!
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Regarding the beauty of expression, yes its beautiful and most allusions of the scriptures are from the life style of yesteryears. Perhaps had Ashtavakra of 21st century could have used iPod or harely-davidson as an example :D like how Motorcyle becomes the Zen-ish object in the famed book.
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I think what you are referring to is the vedantic concept. "Drishti-Srishti". Means the seer creates the scene. World doesn’t exist apriori. In other words, world doesn’t exist as a separate reality. There can be many interpretations though, like most vedantic intellectual jugglery.
Thanks for your comments, I went overboard with this, right?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, there is this ambiguity in comparison. The misfortune of a man of commerce who loses his merchandise at sea, and with the loss of his assets loses the world of commerce is compared with the shanti that is obtained by the unsteady mind in the infinite ocean of self.
The two seem totally irreconcilable. That is what makes me think again and again, searching for the sense that brings these two together.
ennappa idhu.
ReplyDeletepuriyaramari ethachum eludhunga.