[INDOLOGY] Translation of bhagavān / bhagavatī

Fri Sep 30 10:20:58 UTC 2022

In Bhasa's plays, Bhagavan is used as an addressing to Rishis and such
venerated ones. In such contexts, 'respected', , 'venerated' can be a good
choice from English.

In the famous verse used during the tying of mangala suutra, particularly
in south Indian marriages,

कंठे बध्नामि सुभगे is found. सुभग is the adjective qualifying कंठ here. The
meaning of  सुभग  here is 'with auspicious features'

In Visishtaadvaita Bhagavaan is defined as sakalakalyaaNaguNaghana =
aggregate of all the auspicious qualities that are possible /existing.

The matub suffix vaan  added to bhaga means , the one with. Thus bhaga here
is being taken as all the auspicious qualities that are possible /existing.

bhaga = auspicious qualities seems to be the running thread in all these
usages.

Hence bhagavaan/ bhagavatee probably can be translated as the
auspicious one in general contexts , as the  most auspicious , all
auspicious, absolutely auspicious etc., when used as qualifying the name of
a 'supreme'/ 'highest' /'ultimate' devataa.

On Fri, Sep 30, 2022 at 2:36 PM Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Dear Dr. Haas,
>
> I should add that the English usage is no doubt based on much older
> liturgical formulas. The common Hebrew prayers, for instance, often begin:
> baruch atoi adonai elohenu melekh ha-olem
> for which the standard English rendition is "Blessed art thou o Lord, our
> God, King of the universe..." Similarly, in French
> "Béni sois-tu, Seigneur, notre Dieu, Roi de l'univers," though French
> tends to use other locutions in varying contexts, for instance, "bien-aimé
> Seigneur" where English would use "Blessed Lord."
>
> Matthew Kapstein
> Directeur d'études, émérite
> Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris
>
> Associate, The Divinity School
> The University of Chicago
>
> https://brill.com/view/title/60949
>
> https://ephe.academia.edu/MatthewKapstein
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of
> Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
> *Sent:* Friday, September 30, 2022 2:51 AM
> *To:* Dr. Dominik A. Haas, BA MA <dominik at haas.asia>;
> indology at list.indology.info <indology at list.indology.info>
> *Subject:* Re: [INDOLOGY] Translation of bhagavān / bhagavatī
>
> Dear Dr. Haas,
>
> In English usage the phrase "Blessed Lord" is current in reference to the
> deity of the Western monotheisms. I believe that this usage was extended to
> Indian religions
> during the nineteenth century.
>
> sincerely,
>
> Matthew Kapstein
> Directeur d'études, émérite
> Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris
>
> Associate, The Divinity School
> The University of Chicago
>
> https://brill.com/view/title/60949
>
> https://ephe.academia.edu/MatthewKapstein
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of Dr.
> Dominik A. Haas, BA MA <dominik at haas.asia>
> *Sent:* Friday, September 30, 2022 1:18 AM
> *To:* indology at list.indology.info <indology at list.indology.info>
> *Subject:* Re: [INDOLOGY] Translation of bhagavān / bhagavatī
>
>
> Dear native speakers,
>
> to me “blessed” implies that someone has pronounced a blessing on a
> person/object. How does this work with a deity such as Kṛṣṇa? Or can
> “blessed” be used in a more figurative sense (is this what you have in
> mind?)?
>
> Best regards,
>
> D. Haas
>
>
>
> __________________
> *Dr. Dominik A. Haas, BA MA*
> dominik at haas.asia | ORCID 0000-0002-8505-6112
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>
>
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>
> Am 30.09.2022 um 01:41 schrieb Harry Spier via INDOLOGY:
>
> Tracy Coleman wrote:
> Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Blessed Lord Krishna
>
> Thank you Tracy for this. * "Blessed" *is exactly what I need. And of
> course thank you to everyone else who answered, Rajam, Donald Davis, Dean
> Michael Anderson, and Matthew Kapstein.
>
> "Blessed" is a little more concise than this definition of bhagavat in the
> Vishnu Purana translated by Sw. Tyagīśānanda
> "That which is imperceptible, undecaying, inconceivable, unborn,
> inexhaustible, indestructible; which has neither form, nor hands, nor
> feet, which is almighty, omnipresent, eternal; the cause of all things
> and without cause, permeating all, itself unpenetrated, and from which
> all things proceed, that is the object which the wise behold, that is
> Brahman, that is the Supreme State, that is the thing spoken of by the
> Vedas, the infinitely subtle, supreme condition of viSNu.  That Essence
> of the Supreme is defined by the term Bhagavat;  the word Bhagavat is
> the denotation of that primeval and eternal God; and he who fully
> understands the meaning of that expression is possessed of holy wisdom,
> the sum and substance of the three vedas. The word Bhagavat is a
> convenient form to be used in the adoration of that Supreme Being, to
> twhom no term is applicable; and therefore bhagavat expresses that
> Supreme Spirit which is individual, almighty, and the cause of causes of
> all things. . . .
>
> Harry Spier
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Nagaraj Paturi

Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.

Senior Director, IndicA
BoS, MIT School of Vedic Sciences, Pune, Maharashtra
BoS Kavikulaguru Kalidasa Sanskrit University, Ramtek, Maharashtra
BoS Veda Vijnana Gurukula, Bengaluru.
Member, Advisory Council, Veda Vijnana Shodha Samsthanam, Bengaluru
BoS Rashtram School of Public Leadership
Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Studies in Public Leadership
Former Senior Professor of Cultural Studies,
FLAME School of Communication and FLAME School of  Liberal Education,
Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.
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