Caleb's metric rendering

[Nitaidas]

Here is the latest version of the typeset book. I have completed the chapters. The book is now 318 pages. Now I will concentrate on adding footnotes from the original to the rest of the chapters and on writing my introduction. I also intend to add the verse summaries of the Gita by Yamunacarya, Visvanatha Cakravartin, Madhusudana Sarasvati, and Baladva Vidyabhusana.

The text is also being reviewed and corrected by my wife.

Any other suggestions?


Here

[madanmohandas]

Looking good. The referance from CC regarding the illiterate brahman is from Madhya Lila chapter 9 verses 93-103 in the Gaudiya Mission edition.
sei ksetre rahe eka vaisvava brAhmaNa/
devAlaye Asi' kare gItA Avartana// etc.

[gerard]

At page vi the text reads: "The meaning this sacred text has for the Caitanya
Vaisnava community may best be summarized..." etc.

Will the general reader not be surprised to find this school he might never heard of highlighted in the introduction? Or is this re-issue only meant for the CV community?

[Nitaidas]

Aug 31, 2010 14:03:20 GMT -6 gerard said:

At page vi the text reads: "The meaning this sacred text has for the Caitanya
Vaisnava community may best be summarized..." etc.

Will the general reader not be surprised to find this school he might never heard of highlighted in the introduction? Or is this re-issue only meant for the CV community?

Good point. This edition of the Gita is not meant for just the CV community. There is nothing particularly CV-ish about Caleb's translation. If anything, the non-dualist position is more frequently highlighted. Still, we have that passage from the Cc featuring the illiterate brahmana. I will see what I can do.

[madanmohandas]

Well Nitai, if it makes things easier just ommit my intro. It occured to me that to have an edition 'As it is' would require no annotations or introductions, just the text and perhaps some unobtrusive foot notes.

[Nitaidas]

Sept 18, 2010 10:02:31 GMT -6 madanmohandas said:

Well Nitai, if it makes things easier just ommit my intro. It occured to me that to have an edition 'As it is' would require no annotations or introductions, just the text and perhaps some unobtrusive foot notes.

Well, we are far beyond the "As it is" stage. You have changed the translation and my wife has, too, as she has gone through it. And I think the changes have been justifiable, at least in most cases. I wondered about your replacing "courage" with "determination" in one set of verses (Chapter 18). For one thing it throws the meter way off. "Resolve" would work there but my wife hates the word because if its recent obnoxious use in American politics. Still I may overrule her here. Anyway, the book is nearly done. I am working on the appendices with the Gita-saras and am about to start my introduction. I will post it in its current state a little later today. I think it is shaping up nicely. I even have some ideas for the cover. Let's not let our nerves shake the boat at this point. It actually may be done by the end of the month and out by the end of the next. Hopefully, Kanupriya Goswami's book will follow soon after.

[Nitaidas]

Here is the latest version of the typeset book. The book is now 330 pages. The footnotes are done and my wife has been through the whole book. I have started adding the verse summaries of the Gita by Yamunacarya, Visvanatha Cakravartin, Madhusudana Sarasvati, and Baladva Vidyabhusana. The only thing remaining is my introduction. I hope to start that this week.

Any other suggestions?


Here

[madanmohandas]

For some reason, Nitai, I can't launch the acrobat. Anyway I'm sure it is fine. I don't see how 'determination' is objectionable. Perhaps it does lose the measure in certain cases, but that occurs throughout the text here and there, and it can sometimes be compensated. But it is entirely up to you.

[madanmohandas]

These are the verses I believe in question, here slightly adjusted.

Determination which through yoga
Enables one to curb the mind,
The senses and the breaths of life,
Is determination sattvic, Partha.33
But that through which one clingeth fast
To piety and lust and wrath,
And by attatchment longs for fruit,
Such determination, Partha, is rajasic.34
And that by which a foolish man
Doth not abandon fear and grief,
Nor sleep, dispair, nor vanity, O Partha,
Is determination tamasic.35

'Fortitude' is another possible if 'resolve' is politically incorrect

[madanmohandas]

Such fortitude which through yoga
Enables one to curb the mind,
The senses and the breaths of life,
That fortitude is sattvic, Partha.33
But that through which one clingeth fast
To piety and lust and wrath,
And by attachment longs for fruit,
Such fortitude, Partha, is rajasic.34
And that by which a foolish man
Doth not abandon fear and grief,
Nor sleep, dispair, nor vanity, Partha,
That fortitude is tamasic.35

[Nitaidas]

Sept 22, 2010 6:53:35 GMT -6 madanmohandas said:

For some reason, Nitai, I can't launch the acrobat. Anyway I'm sure it is fine. I don't see how 'determination' is objectionable. Perhaps it does lose the measure in certain cases, but that occurs throughout the text here and there, and it can sometimes be compensated. But it is entirely up to you.

Does anyone else have this problem?

[Nitaidas]

Fortitude may work there. The word is dhRti which means: "firmness , constancy , resolution , will," according to Monier-Williams. I think it also fixes the meter. I will check with the boss.

[Nitaidas]

Here is the latest version of the typeset book. The book is now 348 pages. The summaries of the Gita by Sankara, Yamunacarya, and Madhusudana Sarasvati are done and Visvanatha and Baladva Vidyabhusana still remain to be done. I hope to finish those in the next few days. Both are short. Still undecided on whether to complete my introduction.

Any other suggestions?


Here

[madanmohandas]

Hi Nitai, there is also the introductory by Ramanuja which is very good. It starts with ' om harih sriyah patih nikhilaheyapratyanIkakalyANaikatAnah............etc. Let me know if you want me to post it.

[Nitaidas]

Jun 1, 2011 0:59:31 GMT -6 madanmohandas said:

Hi Nitai, there is also the introductory by Ramanuja which is very good. It starts with ' om harih sriyah patih nikhilaheyapratyanIkakalyANaikatAnah............etc. Let me know if you want me to post it.

Yes, please do, madanmohanji. I don't know if I can include it in this edition, but I will try. Also, I think we need one more paragraph from you in your introduction. It kind of stops abruptly after the CC quote. Something, well, conclusive is needed. Any ideas?