"Saisha" as the name of a goddess?

[Dominik Wujastyk]

ko jānāti?


On 8 March 2010 15:39, Deshpande, Madhav <mmdesh at umich.edu> wrote:

> Dear Indologists,
>
> Recently I met a Brahmin family from Karnataka who have a newborn daughter
> named "Saisha".  They asked me what the word means.  I could not think of a
> Sanskrit word close to "Saisha."  Then the grandfather said that this is a
> name of goddess Lakshmi used in a Sanskrit stotra popular among followers of
> Ramanuja.  The line from the stotra he recited was:  saiṣā devī
> sakala-bhuvana-prārthanā-kāmadhenuḥ.  It was immediately apparent to me that
> the "Saisha" was simply sā eṣā, and not a name of the goddess, but I was not
> able to convince the grandfather of the child, who fervently argued that
> "Saisha" was an authentic name of the goddess.  I wonder if others have come
> across similar examples.
>
> Madhav
>
> Madhav M. Deshpande
> Professor of Sanskrit and Linguistics
> Department of Asian Languages and Cultures
> 202 South Thayer Street, Suite 6111
> The University of Michigan
> Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104-1608, USA
> ________________________________________
> From: Indology [INDOLOGY at liverpool.ac.uk] On Behalf Of Alexander von
> Rospatt [rospatt at BERKELEY.EDU]
> Sent: Friday, March 05, 2010 3:42 PM
> To: INDOLOGY at liverpool.ac.uk
> Subject: Update: Berkeley Summer Program: Words of Wisdom: Toward a Western
> Terminology for Buddhist Texts
>
> Dear Colleagues,
>
> there are still a few free places on the 2010 Berkeley Summer Program:
> Words of Wisdom: Toward a Western Terminology for Buddhist Texts.
>
> I would be grateful if you could remind potentially interested students of
> this special opportunity. The announcement can now also be found online at
> http://mangalamresearch.org/summer.htm.
>
> With many thanks (and apologies for cross-listing with H-Buddhism),
>
>
> Alexander von Rospatt
>
> ------------
>
> Mangalam Research Center for Buddhist Languages
> Center for Buddhist Studies, University of California
> Ho Center for Buddhist Studies, Stanford University
>
> Summer Program: Words of Wisdom: Toward a Western Terminology for Buddhist
> Texts
> Berkeley, CA, USA. June 14-July 2, 2010
> Core Faculty: Luis Gomez, Michael Hahn
> Associate Faculty: Paul Harrison, Alexander von Rospatt, Carmen Dragonetti,
> Fernando Tola
>
> Putting the Dharma into the words of a new culture is a task that has
> traditionally unfolded over several generations. In the West, where the
> languages of educated discourse are sophisticated and rich with layers of
> meaning, the challenges of being able to convey the Buddhist teachings as
> faithfully as possible are especially daunting.
> This intensive three-week program, intended primarily for graduate students
> in Buddhism, Indology, or allied fields, is a small step toward a clear and
> consistent terminology or (more modestly) developing skills and strategies
> for finding the best translation equivalents in contemporary English.
> The text for the program is the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa-sūtra. We will read the
> Sanskrit together with the Tibetan and Chinese translations. This close
> reading will address problems of interpretation, as well as the technical
> and stylistic challenges faced by the translator of classical Buddhist
> texts. Students should have facility in Sanskrit; knowledge of Tibetan or
> Chinese will be helpful.
> Format and Facilities Guided by distinguished faculty, students will meet 5
> hours a day, five days a week to work with the challenges posed by the text.
> Sessions will be held from 9:30 am – 12:30 pm and 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm. Meals
> are provided, and housing is an easy walk. Students will have access to the
> libraries of the Mangalam Research Center and the University of California
> at Berkeley (a 10-minute walk). Rapid Transit to San Francisco is
> half-a-block away.
> Focus The focus will be on key terms of the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa-sūtra in the
> context of the profound Mahayana vision it sets forth. We will examine
> vocabulary choices in  both source and target languages, sensitive to subtle
> shifts in meaning between languages with different philosophical
> underpinnings. Among the topics to be explored and skills to be honed:
> •  Sanskrit roots, etymology, and the relation of Buddhist Sanskrit to
> other forms of Sanskrit
> •  Issues of context and intertexuality.
> •  comparison with the Tibetan and Chinese, with reference to commentaries.
> •  stylistic choices and terminology in existing translations in both
> canonical and modern languages
> •  general issues in the theory and practice of translation as they arise
> in rendering a classic Buddh ist text into a modern idiom.
> Costs: Tuition: $1,200 (includes lunch daily). Food and lodging: $1,350.
> Total cost: $2,550.
>
> Applications The program is intended for advanced graduate students, but
> applications from all qualified candidates will be considered. Please submit
> an application by March 15, 2010 to summerprograms at mangalamresearch.org.
> Include a short statement of purpose, a description of language skills and
> how acquired, and a 1–2 paragraph letter of endorsement from your principal
> adviser. Students completing the program will receive a formal letter from
> the Buddhist Studies program of the University of California, Berkeley,
> certifying that the course corresponds to a semester long graduate seminar
> of fifteen weeks with five hours of instruction per week."
>
>  Maximum number of participants is 15. Applicants will be notified by April
> 10, 2010.
>