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Problem Will Linger Until...

From: "Satiish G.D. Bose" To: am-global@earthlink.net Subject: Problem Will Linger Until... Date: Tue 27 Jan 2009 23:49:16 Baba "Andha tamasa' sariya' giya'che, arun' prabha't ha'se..." - P.S. 2340 Purport: The cimmerian darkness has disappeared; the crimson dawn is smiling today. In my mental plate He is emanating His divine effulgence with the expression of His divine love. I am floating in His grace. Now there is none which I feel is alien; everyone is mine, my own. This entire universe-- flora and fauna, mobile and immobile-- everything is my own. Among this entire expressed world I only see Him, Parama Purusa Baba. This creation is nothing but His divine play. I do not go to any holy land or to any external places in search of Him. And I also do not observe any external rituals or penance in order to get Him & have His grace. What way He has taught me to cultivate devotion for Him, in that way I love Him in the deep corner of my mind and heart. There He always resides in my mental lotus in Guru cakra. There is the attraction of love and His grace. I only yearn to become one with Him...
== PROBLEM WILL LINGER UNTIL... ==
Namaskar, This letter discusses the clarity of the translation of Baba's shloka, "Jiivankii dha'ra' saunkoc-vika'shii..." Certainly, we know Baba's teachings are straight-forward and perfect. Baba says, "I keep no ambiguity, I am clear, concrete, conclusive. My philosophy is a complete philosophy." (SE) Hence we should ensure that our AM books are up to the proper standard-- and that includes the translations of the various shlokas like, "Jiivankii dha'ra' saunkoc-vika'shii..." .
BABA'S USE OF SHLOKAS
Before looking at any particular teaching, let's examine Baba's overall use of shlokas. By Baba's grace He has provided us with a crystal-clear explanation about this. In His historic "Author's Note" to the Hindi edition of Subhasita Samgraha part 2, Baba has issued a statement regarding His use of shlokas. The basic idea of what Baba writes in His Author's Note is as follows: 'I (Baba) am not the interpreter of the Vedas, rather my purpose in using any shloka is to explain and put forth Ananda Marga ideology. The shlokas I have selected from the Vedas are used with this expressed intention. Hence sometimes I expound upon a shloka far beyond than what was the original meaning of the shloka; and other times I may use or explain only one word of a shloka when the Vedas have given a lengthy interpretation of that shloka. Because again My purpose is to set down the tenets of AM ideology, not explain the Vedas.' Thus in His special Author's note, Baba clearly states that in His discourses His intention is not to explain or write a commentary of any shloka per se; but rather, He is using those shlokas as a means to illustrate His AM philosophy.
WHAT THIS MEANS
By all this there are two basic points which are paramount: (1) In His discourses, Baba is using the Sanskrit shlokas of the Vedas as a springboard to explain His AM ideology. More specifically, when Baba first began giving His discourses, people were aware about the Vedas but not about AM ideology. Hence those known shlokas of the Vedas were a needed stepping stone for putting forth the ideals of AM. Baba had to move from a point of familiarity (i.e. those ancient Vedic teachings) to a totally new concept that people were unaware about, (i.e. AM ideology). And those ancient Vedi shlokas served as a linking point. (2) Many of the Vedic shlokas are full of wrong and dogmatic teachings which Baba does not wish to include in His discourses. Sometimes He openly corrects the Vedas and many, many times He just ignores the various dogmatic interpretations of those Vedic sermons and instead explains about the dharmic perspective of AM. Hence as important as the various ancient Sanskrit shlokas are, Baba mainly uses them as a tool for putting forth AM teachings. This we should always keep in mind when reading Baba's discourses. We should not become fascinated by the shloka itself but should focus on what Baba's intention is by the use of that shloka-- what is the teachings He is giving.
"JIIVANKII DHARA..."
In His discourse, "The Culmination of Devotion" from Ananda Vacanamrtam part 1, Baba is guiding us that our lives should be clear and pointed. Baba says, "Man should be clear, clean and conclusive. There should be no ambiguity in any sphere of life." (AV-1) To illustrate this point, Baba gives the following shloka:
Jiivankii dha'ra' saunkoc-vika'shii hae kintu jiivan siidha' hona' ca'hiye
So far so good.
POOR TRANSLATION IS THE PROBLEM
Unfortunately, the translators or publishers then gave this following explain in English. THE TRANSLATORS WROTE: "Movement is always systaltic, but the moving entity must be straight." The above line is what they printed in the Ananda Vacanamrtam Part 1 English Edition. But this poor translation makes everything totally convoluted and muddy. The "moving entity" might be a cloud, a star, a giraffe, a celestial body, a chair. Who knows what it means. In our AM ideology Baba uses the word "entity" to mean everything from inanimate objects and a blade of grass to elephants and sadvipras. Baba uses the word entity to describe every living and non-living being that is moving around the Cosmic Hub. Hence, those translators totally muddied the English printing of this discourse. In this Hindi discourse given in Patna, Baba is using a shloka in a particular way to talk about the clarity of human life, but by inserting the term "moving entities", those translators totally puncture and defuse Baba's teaching.
THE REAL MEANING
When in fact Baba's point is quite clear.
Jiivankii dha'ra' saunkoc-vika'shii hae kintu jiivan siidha' hona' ca'hiye
Jiivankii = Of life dha'ra' = flow saunkoc-vika'shii = systaltic hae = is kintu = but jiivan = life siidha' = straight-forward hona' ca'hiye = should be The translation of that shloka should be: The flow of life is systaltic, but (human) life should be simple and straight forward. Baba is telling us that human life moves in cycles of speed and pause but there must not be any hypocrisy. Because, again, Baba is talking about human life in the line directly before the shloka. Baba says, "Man should be clear, clean and conclusive. There should be no ambiguity in any sphere of life." (AV-1) But those editors moved away from Baba's intended meaning and translated "jiivan" as "moving entities". THE TRANSLATORS WROTE: "Movement is always systaltic, but the moving entity must be straight." That is why the printed English meaning of this shloka is so poor, confusing, and ambiguous. Who can say what "moving entities" means. In our AM ideology Baba uses the word "entity" to mean everything from inanimate objects and a blade of grass to elephants and sadvipras. Baba uses the word entity to describe every living and non-living being that is moving around the Cosmic Hub. That is why the translated version of the shloka is so hazy. If they had properly translated "jiivan" as "human life" - since in the prior sentence Baba is talking about human life - then everything would be crystal clear.
THE IRONY
The irony of that poor English translation is that in the "Jiivankii dha'ra'..." shloka Baba is telling us that human life should be clear and straight-forward, yet the very translation of that shloka into English is totally convoluted and confusing. It is just like if someone posted a note, "The kitchen must be kept clean", yet that note was written on a totally dirty piece of paper that was stained with rotten food, blood, and mucous. Thus better care should be taken with the translation and understanding of Baba's use of shlokas. He is pointedly guiding us that our human life should be clear and pointed and the translators wrote that "moving entities" should be straight.
WHY IT IS AN ONGOING PROBLEM
Baba has given all His discourses in such a sterling and beautiful manner, yet often we find that our scriptures are incorrect and lopsided. The mistakes are pervasive and sweeping, with critical errors occurring on every page. These mistakes are preventable, yet when those publishers only have interest in making the Bengali edition accurate and treat all other languages like English, Spanish, Hindi, Japanese, and Tagalo etc as the unwanted step-child, then always these books and translations will be second-rate. Up till now, that is what Sarvatmananda & Co have done. They have paid a blind eye to other languages and treated them as some distant cousin whom they do not care about. That is why the books are so bad. Despite repeated requests, reminders, and letters raising the serious nature of the problems in our Hindi and English books etc. But Sarvatmananda continues to disregard the matter. That is why it is an ongoing problem. The situation will only be repaired when concerned and dedicated margiis or wts come forward and take over the duty of translating and printing our AM books. That type of total switchover is needed. Till that time, Sarvatmananda will continue to treat Bangla as the privileged language and treat AM books printed in other languages as inconsequential, even meaningless. Such a liila: The world over people are bonding together and overcoming racial differences, but in our Ananda Marga, differences in race have led to the distortion and ruination of so many books. In this regard, we seem to be a step behind when in fact we should be leading the society forward.
BABA'S BLESSING
Our AM ideology is the balm for all of humanity. That is why Baba warns us that there should not be any weak point or "loophole" in the translation or printing of His AM teachings. Baba says, "There must be an excellent and all-embracing philosophy, in which there should be no loophole in any sphere." (NSS, '95 Edn, p.196) Namaskar, Satiish
*************************************** Difference Between Literate & Educated
Those who have studied the books but did not bring those teachings into practice may be termed literate but they are certainly not educated. Baba says, "Educated are those who have learnt much, remembered much and made use of their learning in practical life." (PNS-18, p.38)
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