How do you know which translation of a Sanskrit text is the right one?
In an ideal world we’d all have the time to learn Sanskrit perfectly, and read all the texts we want in the original. The Bhagavadgītā, the Yogasūtras, the Rāmāyaṇa, the Buddhacarita, the Vedas: you name it. Fortunately, there are wonderful translations available for these – and for the most important texts, you can often get five, ten, twenty different translations. But how do you know which translation is the right one?
In this course, we will help you answer this question. We will begin by looking at some general features of how languages create meaning. We will look at the ideas behind translation.
- What does a translator need to consider, to know, to compromise on in order to give us the best possible translation?
- What does ‘best’ mean here?
- What purposes might a translation serve?
Once we are comfortable with these ideas, we will then turn to Sanskrit specifically.
- Why does Sanskrit have so many words for the same thing – for example, more than one hundred words for fire?
- How can one Sanskrit word have so many different meanings – how is samādhi both intense meditation and a joint in your neck?
- How does knowing the history of a word help us?
- And where do those famously (or would that be: infamously?) long Sanskrit compounds come in?
At the end of this course, you will have gained confidence in reading and working with translations of Sanskrit texts. You will know how to find out more about the origins (and ‘literal’ meanings) of Sanskrit words, and how to use a Sanskrit dictionary whenever you want to.
(The course will focus on translation from Sanskrit into English, but if your native tongue is something else, let Antonia know, and she’ll make sure to give you some helpful pointers after class!)
Course Structure
- Four live classes, 90 minutes each
- Classes will take place on Thursdays from May 9-May 30
- Class times are at (listed in various timezones)
- 9am-10:30am Pacific Time
- 12pm-1:30pm Eastern Time
- 5pm-6:30pm GMT
- 6pm-7:30pm Central European Time
- All classes will be recorded for viewing, and students will have lifetime access
Course Modules
- May 9 - Language and Translation: The Fundamentals
- May 16 - Sanskrit for Translation: Structures and Peculiarities
- May 23 - The many Sanskrits: Genres, Registers and Styles
- May 30 - Texts and Resources: Where do you go from here?
Meet Your Instructor
Dr. Antonia Ruppel has been teaching Sanskrit language and literature for just under 20 years, at universities in the US, the UK and most recently in Germany. The focus of her teaching is on bringing people of various backgrounds together to appreciate the beauty of Sanskrit and other ancient literary languages. She is the author of the Cambridge Introduction to Sanskrit (2017) and An Introductory Sanskrit Reader (2021). Dr. Antonia Ruppel also teaches Sanskrit online through Yogic Studies.
