[INDOLOGY] Translation of bhagavān / bhagavatī

Fri Sep 30 12:33:38 UTC 2022

To confirm Eli’s statement, in standard dictionaries, ‘bless’ can mean "express or feel gratitude to; thank.” Or, “praise, glorify”, etc.

Howard

> On Sep 30, 2022, at 5:29 AM, Franco <franco at uni-leipzig.de> wrote:
> 
> More than 40 years ago I attended a Talmudic class which discussed the question how a lower being like man can bless a higher being like God. I remember it very vaguely, and may well be mistaken, but I think that blessing in this context was understood to express gratitude. However, I no longer remember the series of steps that took us from blessing to gratitude.
> Best wishes, Eli
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad
> 
> On 30.09.2022, at 10:12, Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info <mailto: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://brill.com/view/title/60949>
>> 
>> https://ephe.academia.edu/MatthewKapstein <https://ephe.academia.edu/MatthewKapstein>
>> 
>> From: INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info <mailto:indology-bounces at list.indology.info>> on behalf of Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info <mailto:indology at list.indology.info>>
>> Sent: Friday, September 30, 2022 2:51 AM
>> To: Dr. Dominik A. Haas, BA MA <dominik at haas.asia <mailto:dominik at haas.asia>>; indology at list.indology.info <mailto:indology at list.indology.info> <indology at list.indology.info <mailto: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://brill.com/view/title/60949>
>> 
>> https://ephe.academia.edu/MatthewKapstein <https://ephe.academia.edu/MatthewKapstein>
>> 
>> From: INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info <mailto:indology-bounces at list.indology.info>> on behalf of Dr. Dominik A. Haas, BA MA <dominik at haas.asia <mailto:dominik at haas.asia>>
>> Sent: Friday, September 30, 2022 1:18 AM
>> To: indology at list.indology.info <mailto:indology at list.indology.info> <indology at list.indology.info <mailto: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
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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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