EconlibThe LibraryOther Sites |
Front Page  Titles (by Subject) REMARKS CONCERNING THE TRANSLATION ITS METHOD AND ARRANGEMENT - The Thirteen Principal Upanishads
Return to Title Page for The Thirteen Principal UpanishadsThe Online Library of LibertyA project of Liberty Fund, Inc.Search this Title:Also in the Library:
REMARKS CONCERNING THE TRANSLATION ITS METHOD AND ARRANGEMENT - Misc (Upanishads), The Thirteen Principal Upanishads [1921]Edition used:The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, translated from the Sanskrit with an outline of the philosophy of the Upanishads and an annotated bibliography, by Robert Ernest Hume (Oxford University Press, 1921).
About Liberty Fund:Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. Copyright information:The text is in the public domain. Fair use statement:This material is put online to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. Unless otherwise stated in the Copyright Information section above, this material may be used freely for educational and academic purposes. It may not be used in any way for profit.
REMARKS CONCERNING THE TRANSLATION ITS METHOD AND ARRANGEMENTPrinciples observed in the translationIt has been the aim of the translator to prepare a rendering that represents, as faithfully as possible, the form and meaning of the Sanskrit text. A literal equivalent, even though lacking in fluency or grace of expression, has been preferred throughout to a fine phrase that less exactly reproduces the original. The version has been made in accordance with philological principles, with constant and comprehensive comparison of recurrent words and phrases, and due attention has been paid to the native commentaries as well as to the work of previous scholars in East and West. The text on which it is basedThe text of the Upanishads here translated may be said to be in fairly good condition, and the readings of the printed editions could in the main be followed. Occasional adoption of variants or conjectural emendations is mentioned and explained in the footnotes (as on pp. 207, 226, 455). In the Bṛihad-Āraṇyaka Upanishad the text of the Kāṇva recension has been used as the basis; some of the variations of the Mādhyaṁdina recension are noted at the foot of the page. In the Kaushītaki Upanishad the principal divergencies between the Bibliotheca Indica edition and that in the Ānandāśrama Series are set forth in the notes. Order of the Upanishads in this volumeThe traditional sequence of the ten principal Upanishads is that given in the following useful versus memorialis:—
In the present volume, which adds the Maitri Upanishad to the usual group of twelve, they are arranged in the probable order of their original composition. Though the determination of this order is difficult and at best conjectural, yet a careful study of the style and contents of these texts points to a relative sequence nearly like that first formulated by Deussen.1 The only departure in this volume from Deussen’s order consists in placing the Śvetāśvatara in the later group with the Maitri, rather than in the earlier group before the Muṇḍaka.2 Treatment of metrical portionsMetrical portions of the text are indicated by the use of type of a smaller size and by an arrangement that suggests verse form to the eye. The meter of each stanza is shown by the width of the margin: a margin of moderate width denotes the 11-syllable triṣtubh, whereas a wider margin denotes the familiar śloka, or 8-syllable anuṣtubh. The number of lines accords with the number of verses in the original, and wherever possible the translation follows the text line for line. It has frequently been possible to attain in English the same number of syllables as in the Sanskrit, though no attempt has been made to produce a consistently metrical translation to the detriment of the sense. Additions in square bracketsMatter in square brackets is matter not actually expressed in the words of the Sanskrit text. It comprises—
Additions in parenthesesMatter in parentheses is always identical in meaning with the preceding word or words. It comprises—
Use of italicsSanskrit words have been quoted freely in italics enclosed in parentheses—
Nouns and adjectives are usually given in their uninflected stemform; occasionally, however, an inflected form is used for the sake of clearness (as at Chānd. 8. 3. 3, p. 265). Transliteration of Sanskrit wordsThe transliteration of Sanskrit words in italics follows the current usage of Western Oriental scholars (except that anusvāra is represented by ṁ instead of by the customary ṃ). In roman type, as part of the English translation, however, proper names (as of divinities, persons, texts, and ceremonies) are given in a slightly less technical transliteration, with some concession to popular usage; the vowel ṛ is represented by ‘ṛi’ (except in ‘Rig,’ ‘Rig-Veda’), and the sibilant ṣ by ‘sh.’ Headings in heavy-faced typeThe headings in heavy-faced type have been inserted by the translator to summarize the contents of the ensuing sections and to interpret, as far as possible in a few words, the development of thought in the text. [1 ]From A Catechism of Hinduism, by Sris Chandra Vasu, Benares, 1899, p. 3. [1 ]See Deussen, Die Philosophie der Upanishad’s, pp. 22-25; English tr., pp. 22-26 (cf. the Bibliography, p. 501 below). See also Macdonell, History of Sanskrit Literature, London, 1900, p. 226. [2 ]See Hopkins, ‘Notes on the Çvetāçvatara, etc.,’ JAOS. 22 (1901), pp. 380-387, where he controverts Deussen on this very point. |
