PAPER 15: MODULE 17: E-TEXT UGC MHRD e Pathshala Subject: English Principal Investigator: Prof. Tutun Mukherjee, University of Hyderabad Paper: 15: “Literary Translation in India” Paper Coordinator: Prof. T. S. Satyanath, University of Delhi Module 17: Sanskrit, Pali and Early Translation in India Content Writer: Dr. Mrinmoy Pramanick, University of Calcutta Content Reviewer: Prof. T. S. Satyanath, University of Delhi Language Editor: Prof. T. S. Satyanath, University of Delhi 1 Introduction Representative texts of ancient and medieval Indian culture, religion and philosophy have been composed in Sanskrit and Pali languages. Translation of those texts into Bhasha has been started since the medieval period and with this translation the bhasha or modern Indian languages have been emerged in India. There were different class, caste and religious identities played role into such translation. The awakening among the masses, people’s resistance against the ruling class, resistance Brahmanism and caste hierarchy necessarily called for translation to be happened. Moreover, translation was one of the powerful or only one prominent long lasting tool for the rulers to know their ruling subjects and to send their knowledge among the public life of the ruled. Sanskrit, as the language of the elites, Brahmins, philosophers, poets, rhetoricians was appeared as only the way to be better human being for the masses who did not have access to the Sanskrit directly. The treasure of Sanskrit knowledge, poetry, moral teachings, aesthetics, and religion was essential to achieve to the common who did not speak Sanskrit or write Sanskrit. In otherside Pali appeared as a language for new religious identity and knowledge. The gradual expansion of Buddhism expanded the use of Pali language too. Translation into or from Pali rapidly grew since 100 CE. The old institution of knowledge, like Nalanda Viswavidyalaya, which was one of the premier institution to promote Buddhist knowledge and culture engaged itself with the exchange of knowledge among different scholars. Such activities, like intellectual 2 exchange, messangers sent by Ashoka for spreading Buddhisim in Srilanka, translated from/to Pali, or prepare the ground for exchanging knowledge through translation. Later, Bhakti movement in different parts of India, took sources of knowledge from Sanskrit and Pali both to reach to the common people with their easy philosophical interpretation. With the expansion of Mughal rule, Persian got a significant position as it was the language of the rulers and used as official language in the Mughal Empire. Since this linguistic paradigm shift with the changes of state power, translation concentration shifted towards bhasha. One side there was already established tradition of translation from Sanskrit and in other side, new trend of translation from Persian to bhasha also was established. In this module we will mainly discuss the translation and role of it in formation of bhasha. The early translation in India is traced here from the era of formation of bhasha culture. Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit texts have been translating in different periods in Indian bhasha as well as English (after English is introduced in India) for various reasons. Medieval Indian literature observed, a deliberate attempt of bhasha culture to translate Sanskrit, as it determined to resist against the caste hegemony and break the confinement of Hindu knowledge from the restricted zone of brahmins and other elites. Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit has primary responsibility to bring the knowledge sphere in medieval India in different bhasha traditions. In the colonial time the british encounter observed Sanskrit, especially as the key for accessing the Indian knowledge to rule better. 3 To discuss this topic, I took most of the examples from Bangla literature as a case study. Advanced readers may consult their known literary history and compare the socio-political reality with it. Translating Sanskrit into Bhasha “Astadasha Puranani Ramasya Charitani Cha Bhashay Manaba Shrutwa Rourab Narakang Brajet”(Naskar 225) Eighteen Puranas, Story of the Rama Listening in Bhasha, led towards Rourab (worst hell) (translation mine) “The Brahmins used their knowledge of Sanskrit as an irreducible form of power, and translation was not encouraged since it would have diluted the role the texts could have played as a part of such an officially sponsored ideology”. (http://nptel.ac.in/courses/109104050/lecture33/33_2.htm) Dash and Pattanaik in their observation which is mentioned in the second quotation rightly offers an understanding of why Brahmins used to declare warning for those who do not have access to Sanskrit (mainly lower caste); against reading the knowledge texts of Sanskrit into bhasha. Despite the above quoted warning not to read Sanskrit texts in bhasha, and if any one did so, the person would go to the worst kind of hell called Rourab. Yet many poets wrote or translated in bhasha but did not claim the language to be Bengali but to be Deshibhasha, Loukikbhasha, (Naskar 225). This revolt against the warning favoring the hegemony of Sanskrit language over other languages was actually a revolt against caste hegemony over ‘knowledge’, and prepared the ground for the development of Bhasha. The growth and development 4 translation in this era was first for Desh and then for Loka and knowledge written in Devabhasha [language of the gods] was translated and ‘stolen’ from heaven for Desh and Loka. The translation practice of this era leads to the localization of myth and the localization of knowledge which were confined within a particular class for the centuries. Such translation was indeed meant for Desh and Loka by feeding into it the knowledge of Devaloka, Devabhasha and Devasahitya. Complication surfaces when Maladhar Basu is congratulated by the Sultan for translating Bhagabat into Bangla in 1473 (1480, according to Sukumar Sen 110) and the chief minister of Hossainshah, Sanatan of Ramkeli village of Goud, used to discuss Bhagabat at the end of 15thcentury. The celebrity status of Maladhar Basu and Sanatan status as discussants of the Bhagabat shows the public life of this text and its translation which was well-received by the people. This helped Bangla language to get its shape. He proposed Madhab Kandali as the first translator of the Ramayana into Assamese and he situated him in the 15thcentury. Sen argues Krittibas’s Ramayana is influenced by the Bhakti Rasa, which was enhanced by the powerful influence of Chaitanyadeb. Madhabkandali’s Bhaktirasa was Vishnu Bhaktirasa. He finds remarkable difference between the translation of Ramayana and Mahabharata in Bangla. Sen arguesRamayana was translated in Panchali style meant mainly for singing, Mahabharata, although claimed as Panchali, was for reading. Since the Ramayana translation became part of Hindu ritual and performed in formal programs,it seems the translator of the Ramayana were the Brahmins and the translators of the Mahabharata were other upper castes, mainly Kayastha (208). 5 In the history of different dynasties and the manners of royal courts, there existed the tradition of reading Mahabharata. The first translation of the Mahabharata into Bangla is Paragali Mahabharat (Pandav Bijay) by Kabindra Parameswar(1515). Kabindra Parameswar wrote iton the order of Paragal Khan,agovernor of the Sultan Hossain Shah. As this Mahabharata was translated by a Muslim governor’s order, there were few remarkable changes from the source text. There were manytranslations of the Mahabharata story into Bangla, likeAswamedha Parba (1552-53) by Ramachandra Khan, a marmanubad1of the Jaimini Samhita. Another Aswamedha Parba (1567) was translated by Dwija Raghunath. The translation of Purana was supported and promoted by the king Biswa Singh (1522- 1554) in the royal court of Kamta-Kamrup. This royal court promoted both Sanskrit literature and translation of Purana into Bangla. King Samar Singha, son of the King Biswa Singha, was the patron of poet Pitambar who translated Markendeya Purana (?) into Bangla by the order of Samar Singha. Pitambar also wrote Usha- Aniruddher Kahini (1533) based on the Bhagabata, besidesVishnupurana and Nala- Damayanti (1544) from Mahabharata. Sukumar Sen mentions that Pitambar was not Brahmin and since translating/re-creating Purana by a non-Brahmin was not within their right, so the poet calls himself a shishuor child-like, most probably to avoid the wrath of the Brahmins.Different chapters of the Mahabharata were translated at this royal court by different poets as Dronaparba by Gopinatha, Birataparba (1611) by Bisharad Chakraborty, Banaparba by Bisharad Chakraborty, Kirataparba (1632-1665) by Gobinda Kabishekhar, Mahabharata(1632-1635)in Payar meter by BrahmanSrinath. 1Marmanubad is a process of translation which stands not for word to word translation but for the translation of the essence or flavor of the theme or translation of essence. 6 In his discussion of the development of Bengali language and literature, Sukumar Sen includes the translations of Mahabharata in Assam and Kamrup, arguing that the language in the 16th century was not shaped as distinctly as Bangla or Assamese, so he these translation should be included while tracingthe history of Bangla literature. He mentions that the language of these translations was similar to the Uttarpurbi dialect of Bangla language (219). But here I leave discussion of those translations of the Mahabharata as the translators Madhab Kandali and Shankaradev are very prominent literary