[Sri Ramakrishna] Kathamrita Translations

[Guest guest]

> I have the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (trans by Swami Nikhilananda I(think)

and it is a wonderful read, cannot say enough about it, really, but I have also

considered getting Conversations with Sri Ramakrishna translated by Sachindra

Kumar Majumdar and distributed by SRV. Has anyone read this translation and have

any comments?

 

I haven't read it alll, but from what I have read I would say it would be

enormously helpful for the serious reader of the Kathamrita to study this

versions as well. It has the following advantages (the following is based on

comments shared with me by Ralph Brockway):

 

SEQUENCE: Majumdar translated the complete five volumes of Kathamrita organized

as M. originally wrote them. Nikhilananda rearranged this text into

chronological order. M seems to have graded the conversations in his diary by

ease or difficulty of acceptance to the Bengali audience of the Kathamrita.

Thus, volumes 1 and 2 are not very controversial in subject matter; volumes 3

and 4 get more and more esoteric; volume 5 begins to run short of good material

and fizzles a bit. In any event, M. seems to try to educate readers and bring

them along step by step, whereas in the Gospel the reader is fed everything

together, a mixture of easy and difficult material.

 

MISSING MATERIAL RESTORED: In Kathamrita, M. often muses about what he has seen

and heard. This is usually quite interesting and can be helpful to readers in

assimilating what they are reading. Much of this material was left out of the

Gospel; it is retained in Conversations.

 

EDITING: Often there is no great difference in the content of the two versions,

but N's English is more flowery. Ramakrishna spoke in a simple, direct village

idiom. The Gospel has a Victorian, occasionally somewhat prudish flavor to it

that is not so compatible with contemporary readers' sensibility. Majumdar's

usage is current and clear. No attempt has been made to polish or edit

Ramakrishna's words. The publisher of the CD states: " The reader should

understand that the translation lacks the polish and beauty of the Nikhilananda

translation of the Gospel. An added problem is that when translating from one

culture to another, it is easy to misunderstand the context or the meaning.

Ramakrishna may appear crude or vulgar at some places, when in context, that is

not what is going on. "

At times there is substantial difference between the two translations.

Especially from volume 3 on, Nikhilananda omitted or changed phrases or words

that might upset the Western audience at which the Gospel was aimed. This

sometimes applies to references to Tantric practices (e.g., allusions to sexual

or cremation-ground practices). Today's readers are much better prepared to read

and understand the Kathamrita than readers in the 1940s, so one can understand

what N was up against in putting out a translation that he hoped would be widely

read.

The time was ripe for N's translation then--and now it is time for the

accuracy of Majumdar's. The true value of Majumdar's translation is its quality

of " You are there, " it's ability to capture today's readers and involve them in

Ramakrishna's fascinating dialogues.

 

 

 

 

_______

 

Get your free @ address at