MLA Paper

[Nitaidas]

madanmohandas said:

In sloka 4 you have 'by nature existent', is that 'sanmAtra'?
Quite an astonishing epithet, if that's what it is. Gosh! a commentary on that would be interesting.

Haridas Das has written a comm. on the text and printed it in his edition of the work. He says he based it mostly on the commentary on the 10th Skandha by Sanatana. Here is what he says:

sanmAtra svarUpataH eva sthita, sadeva saumya idamagra aasiiditi zrutiH tathA ahamevAsamevAgre nAnyad yat sadasatparamityAdi (bhAg. 2.9.32)

sanmAtra [sad+ mAtra = sanmAtra] means "situated [or present or existent] by his very nature, as in the revelation text: "Being [sad] alone, gentle sir, this was in the being" as well as [in the text] "Only I was in the beginning, nothing else, which was beyond the real and the unreal" (Bhagavata, 2.9.32).

Sad or sat is hard to translate. It can also mean "good" but this fourth verse seems to be dealing with issues of being and purity. This verse points to Krsna as Brahman.

[Ekantin]

admin said:

Our biggest weakness at Blazing Sapphire Press is that there are not enough proofreaders to bring the final works up to the standard of correctness that we want.

I'll be happy to help out on that also if its alright with you. I used to do proofreading at a local newspaper where I once worked, and I've also done a couple of things for the GGM. So I'm happy to volunteer if you need any proofreading done.

[madanmohandas]

Visarga, yes that's what I meant, forgive my ignorance. It's much easier to chant because of that. Lately I have been learning the Visnu Sahasra Nama, (trying to be a Hindoo), but there is so much of visarga, it can be somewhat laborious. Anyway, I have determined, being inspired by your piece, to resume the cultivation of Krsna Lila Stava and give the Visnu Sahasra Nama a break.

O yes, in Devaki's prayer she says, 'sattA mAtra', which is maybe synonymous with 'sanmAtra'.

[hredwood]

Im new to all these language terms and texts, But from what i read was nice work, Well done.
Nothing like good material to keep the mind at ease, especially with all the man made matrix we have to put up with.

[Nitaidas]

ekantin said:

admin said:

Our biggest weakness at Blazing Sapphire Press is that there are not enough proofreaders to bring the final works up to the standard of correctness that we want.

I'll be happy to help out on that also if its alright with you. I used to do proofreading at a local newspaper where I once worked, and I've also done a couple of things for the GGM. So I'm happy to volunteer if you need any proofreading done.

Thanks for the offer, Ekantinji. I will certainly take you up on that. Right now I am most concerned about finishing the book on Tinkadi Baba, Sadhu Sadhu. That one is closest to needing a good careful proofreading. I will contact you shortly to work out the details, if you are interested in taking that book on first.

[Nitaidas]

madanmohandas said:

Visarga, yes that's what I meant, forgive my ignorance. It's much easier to chant because of that. Lately I have been learning the Visnu Sahasra Nama, (trying to be a Hindoo), but there is so much of visarga, it can be somewhat laborious. Anyway, I have determined, being inspired by your piece, to resume the cultivation of Krsna Lila Stava and give the Visnu Sahasra Nama a break.

O yes, in Devaki's prayer she says, 'sattA mAtra', which is maybe synonymous with 'sanmAtra'.

Yes, I prefer Sanatana's text to the Visnu-sahasra-nama. It may well be that Sanatana Prabhupada intended it as a replacement with the added twist that the replacement consists of a calling out to Krsna in the same way the Mahamantra is a calling out to him. The whole text is composed of holy names. But there is so much more in the Stava: theology, rasa, humility training, requests for help and protection, and so forth.

I will post more of it here as I begin to polish it up. Please feel free to post your translations, as well.

[Ekantin]

admin said:

Thanks for the offer, Ekantinji. I will certainly take you up on that. Right now I am most concerned about finishing the book on Tinkadi Baba, Sadhu Sadhu. That one is closest to needing a good careful proofreading. I will contact you shortly to work out the details, if you are interested in taking that book on first.

Great! Just send me an email when you're ready.