Bible and New Testament: translations from hebrew and greek to sanskrit

Sat Mar 21 09:55:31 UTC 2009

For a sanskrit tranlation of the Bible see:

The Holy Bible in the sanskrit language... translated out of the original tongues [ibrIya-bhASAtaH : from the Hebrew language] by the Calcutta Baptist Missionaries, with native assistants; printed at the Baptist Mission Press (See http://www.wmcarey.edu/carey/baptmisspress/bmp.htm), circular road; Calcutta

The copy I have in my hands was withdrawn from the Bowdoin College Library,to which it had been given by Rev. James L. Phillips, from Bapt. missn. India, acq. 1873. All volumes seem to be first (and only) editions... 
(about James L. Phillips, see http://abacus.bates.edu/Library/aboutladd/departments/special/SubjectGuides/FWB.shtml)

1848 (vol 1)Five books of Moses and the book of Joshua
ibrIya-bhASAto vyAkRtaH / dharma-granthaH /tasya prathamaM khaNDaM / yad vA / mUsasA racitaM grantha-paJcakaM / yihozUya-pustakaJ ca 
[414 pp. written throughout in prosa]

1852 (vol 2)The historical books from judges to Esther
ibrIya-bhASAto vyAkRtaH / dharma-granthaH / tasya dvitIyaM khaNDaM / yad vA / yihozUyasya maraNAt param isrAyelIya-lokAnAM purAvRtta-pustaka-saGgrahaH
[493 pp. mainly prosa, with interspersed verses]

1858 (vol 3)The poetical and devotional books from Job to Canticles,
ibrIya-bhASAto vyAkRtaH / dharma-granthaH / tasya tRtIyaM khaNDaM / yad vA / AyUvasya caritra-pustakaM / gIta-saMhitA / rAjJA sulemanA racitAni kavyAni ca
[344 pp. written throughout in verses (epic zloka)] 

1872 (vol 4)The prophetical books
ibrIya-bhASAto vyAkRtaH / dharma-granthaH /tasya caturthaM khaNDaM / yad vA / yizAyiyAdInAM bhaviSyad-vAdinAM / grantha-saGgrahaH
[538 pp. verses and prosa interspersed]

Character is Nagari, saMdhi is often neglected for the sake of clarity, words being separated in a fashion reminding of DD Kosambi's edition(s) of Bhartrhari's. Translations are accurate and the sanskrit is correct. Luckily, in contradistinction with a lot of works printed in India during this period, the paper is still very good...

For a translation of the New Testament [yUnAnIya-bhASAtaH 'from the greek language'], we have by the same publishers :
1851 The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (second edition)
prabhunA yIzukhrISTena nirUpitasya nUtana-dharmma-niyamasya grantha-saGgrahaH
IMlaNDIya-vaGgadezIya-paNDitair yUnAnIya-bhASAto vyAkRtaH  
[700 pp. all prosa]

Was this New Testament a library success ? On the reverse of the title page, we get the following figures :
Testament Complete: 1st Edition Copies 1000 / 2nd Edition    "   2500
Four Gospels and the Acts : 1st Edition 500 / 2nd Edition 1500 / 3rd  Edition  2500
Four gospels and the Acts separately: 1st Edition  19500 / 2nd Edition  12500 / 3rd Edition  12500
Luke and Acts, together: one Edition 1500

Hoping it might help...

J. Fezas, Professeur (Langue et littérature sanskrites,) Directeur UFR Orient et Monde Arabe, Université Paris-3 Sorbonne Nouvelle
(Pr.Dr. J. Fezas, (Sanskrit Language and Literature), Dean of the Faculty 'Orient et Monde Arabe', Paris-3 Sorbonne Nouvelle) 

For those interested, here is a sample of the sanskrit text (Genesis 3, beginning)

prabhUnA paramezvareNa sRSTANAM bhUcara-jantUNAM madhye sarpo'tIva khala AsIt| sa tAM nArIm avadat| aye asyodyAnasya kasya cid api pAdapasya phalani bhoktuM paramezvAro yuvAM nyasedhat, kim idaM satyam| tato nArI sarpaM provAca| AvAm etasyodyAnasya sarveSAM viTapinAM phalAni bhoktuM zaknuvaH kevalam udyAna-madhya-sthitasya pAdapasya phalaM pratIzvareNa kathitaM yuvAm etat phalaM mA bhuJjAthAM mA spRzataM ca tat kRtvA mariSyathaH| tadA bhujago nArIM babhASe| yuvAM nizcitaM na mariSyathAH kiM tu yadA tat khAdiSyataH tadA yuvayor locana-prakAzo bhaviSyati| tata Izvara iva bhadrAbhadra-jJAnaM lapsyethe| itIzvaro jAnAti| tadA nArI taM mahIruhaM sukhAdya-phalaM locano-raJjakaM jnAna-labhAya vAJcanIyaM ca vijJAya tasya phalAni zAtayitvA bubhuje| sva-svAmine ca dadau so'pi bhuktavAn| tena tayor ubhayor nayana-prakAzo babhUva| tatas tau svakIya-nagnatAM vijJAya vaTa-pattrANi syUtvA kaTau babandhatuH|

-----Message d'origine-----
De : Indology [mailto:INDOLOGY at liverpool.ac.uk] De la part de franco at RZ.UNI-LEIPZIG.DE
Envoyé : jeudi 19 mars 2009 22:26
À : INDOLOGY at liverpool.ac.uk
Objet : Re: Translations into Sanskrit

There is Sanskrit translation of the Bible, printed in the grantha script, from 1863. Perhaps there are earlier ones.
If I remember correctly, Sylvain Levi discusses some evidence for the translation of the Alexander Legend into Sanskrit in the early centuries CE.
Best wishes,
EF

Quoting Dominik Wujastyk <ucgadkw at UCL.AC.UK>:

>
> Samra? Jagannatha translated Euclid into Sanskrit at the court of 
> Jayasi?ha (1688-1743).  Ed by Kamalasa?kara Pra?asa?kara Trivedi,
> Bombay: Nir?asasagara Press, 1901.  It was the Nasir ad-Din al-Tusi's 
> Arabic tr. of Euclid that was translated, not the original Greek.
>
> Michael Dodson has written a good article on Ballantyne's 19th century 
> efforts in Benares to present European science of the time in Sanskrit 
> treatises.  He and his pandits produced treatises for example on 
> chemistry, the moon, and other topics.  See
> 	
> http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&a
> id=100309
>
> Lancelot Wilkinson and his pandit Bapu Deva Sastri too worked on 
> translating Arabic and European astronomical treatises into Sanskrit.  
> See Minikowski's paper in Michaels' book The Pandit
> (http://books.google.com/books?id=0TtuAAAAMAAJ&pgis=1) and other 
> papers.
>
> Best,
> --
> Dr Dominik Wujastyk
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, 19 Mar 2009, Sven Sellmer wrote:
>
>> Dear Colleagues,
>>
>> lately I was asked about early translations into Sanskrit and noticed 
>> that this is quite an interesting question I know little about. Is 
>> anybody aware of articles or books on this topic? In particular, I 
>> would be curious to learn about the earliest translations into 
>> Sanskrit of texts originally composed in languages others than Middle 
>> Indo-Aryan ones (as only these I would consider translations in the 
>> full sense).
>>
>> Best wishes,
>> Sven Sellmer
>>
>> ************************************
>> Dr. Sven Sellmer
>> Adam Mickiewicz University
>> Institute of Oriental Studies
>> South Asia Unit
>> ul. 28 czerwca 1956 r. nr 198
>> 61-485 Poznan
>> POLAND
>> sven at amu.edu.pl

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