[INDOLOGY] My Sanskrit rendering of Goethe's poem on Shakuntala

[Jesse Knutson]

Perfection. Looking forward to holding the volume of your Skt poems in
hand. Best,J

On Jun 14, 2017 8:30 PM, "Madhav Deshpande via INDOLOGY" <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Dear Professor Slaje,
>
>      Thank you so much for this clarification, which I did not detect due
> to my insufficient knowledge of German.  I gladly accept your suggestion to
> change हे शाकुन्तल to हे शकुन्तले in my Sanskrit rendering.  With best
> wishes,
>
> Madhav Deshpande
> Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
>
> On Wed, Jun 14, 2017 at 10:39 AM, Walter Slaje <slaje at kabelmail.de> wrote:
>
>> Dear Professor Deshpande,
>>
>> I seek your kind permission to add an insignificant remark on this
>> amiable and spotless couplet:
>> Goethe did not address the play (śākuntala), but its heroine (śakuntalā).
>> A capital letter such as "D" of the German spelling "Dich" - if it does
>> correspond with the original spelling - in the above quote normally marks a
>> form of personal address. I think the English translator, too, understood
>> Goethe's wording as a personal address: "[...] thee, O Sakuntala!"
>> It is of course possible that Goethe actually might have had the drama as
>> such in his mind, when he praised "Sakontala" - the person - in place of
>> the play.
>> He knew the play by the title Georg Foster had assigned to it, in which
>> the name of Śakuntalā occupies the first place: "Sakontala, oder der
>> entscheidende Ring, ein indisches Schauspiel von Kalidas."
>>
>> „Sakontala“, in Goethe’s understanding and usage, is also elsewhere a
>> personal name - one of the persons below to be "kissed" -, but not the name
>> of the play:
>>
>> „Was will man denn Vergnüglicheres wissen!
>>
>> Sakontala, Nala, die muß man küssen“
>>
>> (Goethe, *Zahme Xenien*)
>>
>> Could it, therefore, enhance the faithfulness of your  memorable
>> translation by using "he śakuntale" instead of "he śākuntala" (exigencies
>> of meter set aside for the moment)?
>>
>> Kind regards,
>> Walter Slaje
>>
>> -----------------------------
>> Prof. Dr. Walter Slaje
>> Hermann-Löns-Str. 1
>> D-99425 Weimar
>> Deutschland
>>
>> Ego ex animi mei sententia spondeo ac polliceor
>> studia humanitatis impigro labore culturum et provecturum
>> non sordidi lucri causa nec ad vanam captandam gloriam,
>> sed quo magis veritas propagetur et lux eius, qua salus
>> humani generis continetur, clarius effulgeat.
>> Vindobonae, die XXI. mensis Novembris MCMLXXXIII.
>>
>> 2017-06-14 15:02 GMT+02:00 Madhav Deshpande via INDOLOGY <
>> indology at list.indology.info>:
>>
>>> Going through old papers, I found my Sanskrit rendering of Goethe's
>>> German poem on Shakuntala.  This was done sometime during my Fergusson
>>> College days in Pune.
>>>
>>> *GOETHE’S POEM ON SHAKUNTALA*
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Willst du die Blüthe des frühen, die Früchte des späteren Jahres,
>>>
>>> Willst du, was reizt und entzückt, willst du was sättigt und nährt,
>>>
>>> Willst du den Himmel, die Erde, mit Einem Namen begreifen;
>>>
>>> Nenn’ ich, Sakuntala, Dich, und so ist Alles gesagt.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *English Translation*
>>>
>>> Wouldst thou the young year's blossoms and the fruits of its decline
>>>
>>> And all by which the soul is charmed, enraptured, feasted, fed,
>>>
>>> Wouldst thou the earth and heaven itself in one sole name combine?
>>>
>>> I name thee, O Sakuntala! and all at once is said.
>>>
>>> —*translation by Edward Backhouse Eastwick*
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *संस्कृतानुवाद**:*
>>>
>>> स्पृहयसि वसन्तकुसुमेभ्यो यदि
>>>
>>> ग्रीष्मे यदि फलराशीनिच्छसि ।
>>>
>>> कान्तं पुष्टिकरं तुष्टिकरम्
>>>
>>> सन्तर्पणमात्मनो यदीच्छसि ।
>>>
>>> शब्दैक्ये यदि कर्तुम् ग्रहणम्
>>>
>>> वसुन्धरास्वर्गयोरीप्सितम् ।
>>>
>>> त्वामभिदधामि हे शाकुन्तल
>>>
>>> सपदि सकलमेकपदे प्रोक्तम् ॥
>>>
>>> Madhav Deshpande
>>> Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
>>>
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>>
>>
>
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