Srila Prabhupada vs BBT Translators

[Guruvani]

This should be an interesting thread.

I will present a verse from the Bhagavatam as it was translated by Srila Prabhupada and then present the same verse as it was translated by the BBT translators who finished the Bhagavatam where Srila Prabhupada left off.

 

Letus see if the members of the forum can spot any differences or discrepancies in the translations of the BBT editors as compared to the translation of Srila Prabhupada.

 

Then, we have to think about whether we really accept the translation of the BBT scholars who finished the Srimad Bhagatam where Srila Prabhupada left off.

 

Here is Srila Prabhupada's translation to Srimad Bhagavatam 11.3.27 -

 

 

Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 20.119

 

bhayaḿ dvitīyābhiniveśataḥ syād

īśād apetasya viparyayo 'smṛtiḥ

tan-māyayāto budha ābhajet taḿ

bhaktyaikayeśaḿ guru-devatātmā

 

 

SYNONYMS

bhayam — fear; dvitīya-abhiniveśataḥ — from the misconception of being a product of material energy; syāt — arises; īśāt — from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa; apetasya — of one who has withdrawn (the conditioned soul); viparyayaḥ — reversal of the position; asmṛtiḥ — no conception of his relationship with the Supreme Lord; tat-māyayā — because of the illusory energy of the Supreme Lord; ataḥ — therefore; budhaḥ — one who is wise; ābhajet — must worship; tam — Him; bhaktyā — by devotional service; ekayā — undiverted to karma and jñāna; īśam — the Supreme Personality of Godhead; guru — as the spiritual master; devatā — the worshipable Lord; ātmā — the Supersoul.

 

 

TRANSLATION

"'When the living entity is attracted by the material energy, which is separate from Kṛṣṇa, he is overpowered by fear. Because he is separated from the Supreme Personality of Godhead by the material energy, his conception of life is reversed. In other words, instead of being the eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, he becomes Kṛṣṇa's competitor. This is called viparyayo 'smṛtiḥ. To nullify this mistake, one who is actually learned and advanced worships the Supreme Personality of Godhead as his spiritual master, worshipful Deity and source of life. He thus worships the Lord by the process of unalloyed devotional service.'

 

 

 

now, here is the translation of the BBT scholars Hridayananda das Goswami and Gopiparandhana das Adhikari -

 

 

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.2.37

 

bhayaḿ dvitīyābhiniveśataḥ syād

īśād apetasya viparyayo 'smṛtiḥ

tan-māyayāto budha ābhajet taḿ

bhaktyaikayeśaḿ guru-devatātmā

 

 

SYNONYMS

bhayam — fear; dvitīya — in something seeming to be other than the Lord; abhiniveśataḥ — because of absorption; syāt — it will arise; īśāt — from the Supreme Lord; apetasya — for one who has turned away; viparyayaḥ — misidentification; asmṛtiḥ — forgetfulness; tat — of the Lord; māyayā — by the illusory energy; ataḥ — therefore; budhaḥ — an intelligent person; ābhajet — should worship fully; tam — Him; bhaktyā — with devotion; ekayā — unalloyed; īśam — the Lord; guru-devatā-ātmā — one who sees his own spiritual master as his lord and very soul.

 

 

TRANSLATION

Fear arises when a living entity misidentifies himself as the material body because of absorption in the external, illusory energy of the Lord. When the living entity thus turns away from the Supreme Lord, he also forgets his own constitutional position as a servant of the Lord. This bewildering, fearful condition is effected by the potency for illusion, called māyā. Therefore, an intelligent person should engage unflinchingly in the unalloyed devotional service of the Lord, under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, whom he should accept as his worshipable deity and as his very life and soul.

 

 

Do you see any difference and what difference do you see?

 

this should be quite interesting....

(I already spotted some differences that I want to see if others can see)

 

my humle opinion is that the BBT translators should have used the translation of Srila Prabhupada instead of rendering a different translation.

 

but, they obviously were not on the ball and stepped on the toes of Srila Prabhupada by translating a verse that Srila Prabhupada had already translated in Sri Caitanya Caritamrita.

[gHari]

Is that really Srila Prabhupada's translation or is it the transcriber's or editor's rendition of what Srila Prabhupada dictated? Do we know? So often these little debates cause folks to argue against Srila Prabhupada's original words, like we had a clue in the first place anyway.

[suchandra]

 

Is that really Srila Prabhupada's translation or is it the transcriber's or editor's rendition of what Srila Prabhupada dictated? Do we know? So often these little debates cause folks to argue against Srila Prabhupada's original words, like we had a clue in the first place anyway.

"....his conception of life is reversed", hardly to believe that these are Prabhupada's words. Another thing is one should only write transcendental literature when ordered by superior authority, otherwise such literature cannot liberate conditioned souls from the clutches of maya. Since there're already so many books by the great acharyas, why should we speculate if presently written books are written by fully liberated persons? At least Lord Chaitanya Himself refused to write any books to set an example, although He was a great scholar.

[Guest guest]

I would suspect at the time of publishing of the later cantos that the ability to search and find Prabhupada's translations wasn't as easy as just opening filio and clicking search. That's probably why they weren't used - they weren't easily accessible, or known to exist due the the vast wealth of lectures Prabhupada gave.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if still today they are discovering new tapes.

[som]

I tend to agree with the Guest as I have seen Srila Prabhupada's original translations of the verses in many of the translations done by Disciples of Srila Prabhupada in Srimad-Bhagavatam.

 

 

I would suspect at the time of publishing of the later cantos that the ability to search and find Prabhupada's translations wasn't as easy as just opening filio and clicking search. That's probably why they weren't used - they weren't easily accessible, or known to exist due the the vast wealth of lectures Prabhupada gave.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if still today they are discovering new tapes.

[Guruvani]

I found another verse that Srila Prabhupada translated in CC that originally comes from Bhagavatam which was later translated by the BBT translators Hridayananda das Goswami and Gopiparanadhana das Adhikari.

 

It's quite interesting to see the difference between the way the BBT scholars translated and the way Srila Prabhupada translated.

 

Srila Prabhupada's version:

 

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.15.18).

 

śvetadvīpa-patau cittaḿ śuddhe dharma-maye mayi

dhārayañ chvetatāḿ yāti ṣaḍ-ūrmi-rahito naraḥ

 

"My dear Uddhava, you may know that My transcendental form of Viṣṇu in Śvetadvīpa is identical with Me in divinity. Anyone who places this Lord of Śvetadvīpa within his heart can surpass the pangs of the six material tribulations: hunger, thirst, birth, death, lamentation and illusion. Thus one can attain his original, transcendental form."

 

The BBT scholars version below....

 

 

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.15.18

 

śvetadvīpa-patau cittaḿ

śuddhe dharma-maye mayi

dhārayañ chvetatāḿ yāti

ṣaḍ-ūrmi-rahito naraḥ

 

 

TRANSLATION

A human being who concentrates on Me as the upholder of religious principles, the personification of purity and the Lord of Śvetadvīpa obtains the pure existence in which he is freed from the six waves of material disturbance, namely hunger, thirst, decay, death, grief and illusion.