Gita study 28 CONTINUED

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GITA 28 Continued

 

Last week we touched on the problem of translation.

 

The Gita text when rendered into English can be very prosaic and destroys the

poetic 'rasa' or beauty which the original possessed.T

 

HE GITA IS POETRY! that's why it's called THE SONG CELESTIAL. Most Gita

translations suffer because they are literal prose translations and loose the

essential 'rasa'.

 

Here is an example of v. 28 c6 in which the Victorian Poet, Sir Edwin Arnold

tries to capture the 'RASA' AND HOLD THE LITERAL MEANING. I CANNOT USE HIM FOR

THE STUDY GROUP, HOWEVER, BECAUSE HIS LINES ARE NOT NUMBERED AND HE USES A

TECHNIQUE CALLED ENJAMBMENT- PUTTING LINES TOGETHER.

 

" As often as the heart

Breaks-wild and wavering-from control, so oft

Let him recurb it, let him rein it back

To the soul's governance; for perfect bliss

Grows only in the bosom tranquilised. "

 

Contrast this with Sri Aurobindo!

 

" By whatsover the restless and unsteady mind wanders away, from that should it

be restrained and brought back into subjection in the Self. "

 

Here is my attempt in which there is an expanded metaphor to ram the point home.

 

However the restless,

rude unruly monkey mind,

rebels mischieviously,

like a naughty school boy,

impishly insolent,

rein it in,

and return it ruthlessly

back to one's own dear Self.

 

So we see how different translations, from the hundreds, at least one new one

each year,, will affect the way the meaning can impact on the reader.

Wikipedia has many examples of gita translations- under Bhagavad Gita, so take

you pick..

 

Alan