Kalidasa for today’s readers

Mani Rao and Srinivas Reddy on the different approaches to English translations of classical literature from Sanskrit

January 27, 2015 08:30 pm | Updated 08:30 pm IST

Mani Rao and Srinivas Reddy. Photo: Sangeetha Devi Dundoo

Mani Rao and Srinivas Reddy. Photo: Sangeetha Devi Dundoo

Classical works of literature in Sanskrit like that of Kalidasa have been translated to other languages for ages. What then necessitates contemporary translations, a young reader at the Hyderabad Literary Festival asked writers Mani Rao and Srinivas Reddy as they discuss and debate on the methodology that goes into English translations of classical literature from Sanskrit.

Mani Rao is a Ph.D student at Duke University with a focus on Vedic studies and has to her credit eight books on poetry, a re-interpretation of Mahabharata as a modern poem and has authored Kalidasa for the 21st Century Reader . Srinivas Reddy who teaches at IIT, Gandhinagar, has translated Kalidasa’s first play ‘Malavikagnimitram’ and Krishnadevaraya’s ‘Amuktamalyada’ into English.

Arguing on the relevance of fresh translations, Srinivas Reddy said, “We don’t speak Hindi or Urdu the way it was spoken decades ago. The evolution of language necessitates fresh translations,” and revealed how he was commissioned by a publisher to translate a work by Kalidasa, which indicates the market for contemporary translations.

Mani Rao felt that though there have been early translations, a lot of it is not accessible, giving scope for new translations that will help fill the gaps. While many know of Kalidasa, not many may have read his works like ‘Meghadootam’, she pointed out. “There is a notion that Sanskrit is only for spiritual texts,” she said, recalling an incident when a publisher asked her if a spiritual guru should be invited for a book launch in Mumbai, simply because the translation is from Sanskrit.

Srinivas Reddy had learnt Sanskrit from his grandfather. “I learnt the language the old way, in a textual manner day after day. My approach towards translation would be to be accurate with the words and their formation. It isn’t easy to translate in English from Sanskrit, taking care to be poetic, appealing and accurate,” he said. Now working on a translation of ‘Meghadootam’, he understands the importance of bringing out an interpretative quality to the translation. “Classical literature is largely made accessible through commentators, for instance Mallinatha’s commentary on Kalidasa,” he says. Mani Rao agrees, “We have a tradition of re-telling. That said, it is tough to capture the ‘ras’ of the original through a translation, particularly in English. It is relatively easier to translate from Sanskrit, to say Kannada or Malayalam.”

Both Mani Rao and Srinivas Reddy read out translations of a passage from Sanskrit, the resulting work being diametrically different to each other in flavour. Srinivas Reddy added, “A writer has to keep the ethos of the original intact but I would also like readers to pick up a translation considering it as my book. A writer’s personality reflects through the translation.”

Then, there arises a question of whether the translations only offer multiple perspectives but never the truth and whether one must learn Sanskrit to appreciate classical literature. “Every piece of classical literature may not be necessarily accessible to everyone who knows Sanskrit, which is why there have been commentators who can interpret the text,” says Mani Rao.

The two writers agreed that the methodology to translate ‘Kumarasambhavam’ or ‘Raghuvamsam’ would be different from that of ‘Meghadootam’. A play with dialogues, for instance, can be translated line by line whereas a poem with metaphors is prone to commentary and new interpretations.

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