Dear Mr Schmidt-Madsen,
my translation is:
This (i.e. the KathAsaritsAgara, KSS) is just like (= as to the content identical with) the Original (mUla). There is not the slightest (manAg api) excess (atikrama). Only of the size of the book a reduction is being performed and the language is effected (vidyate). Or: the language is being changed (bhidyate) regarding the reduction of / in order to reduce the size of the book.
As far as possible (yathAshakty) literary conventions (lit.: fitting logical connection and syntax) (aucityAnvaya-rakshA) and the kAvya character (lit.: the connection (yojanA) with the being a part (amsha) of kAvya) are being kept (-rakshA abhidhiiyate) without destroying (a-vighAtena) the essence / core (rasa) of the stories.
Of the KSS, which is a Sanskrit version of a much older original in a Prakrit, there are at least two English, two German and one new French translations, see Amazon, etc. you can consult.
Yours faithfully,
W.Bollée
Datum: 6. April 2014 14:55:54 MESZ
Betreff: [INDOLOGY] Kathāsaritsāgara 1.1.10-11
Dear list,
In trying to learn something or other about the source of Somadeva's "Kathāsaritsāgara" as stated by the author himself, I (like others before me) am struggling with the exact meaning of verses 1.1.10-11:
"yathā mūlaṃ tathaivaitan na manāg apy atikramaḥ /
grantha-vistara-saṃkṣepa-mātraṃ bhāṣā ca bhidyate //
aucityānvaya-rakṣā ca yathāśakti vidhīyate /
kathā-rasāvighātena kāvyāṃśasya ca yojanā //"
I translate as follows:
"Just like the root (text), just so (is) this; (there is) no passing over, however slight [i.e. nothing has been left out]; and the language is changed [abbreviated? versified? translated?] only for the sake of the throwing together [i.e. abridgment] of the vastness of the book; /
and the preservation of the propriety and sequence is maintained as far as possible without destroying the flavor of the story, and (so too) the arrangement of the partition [individual parts?] of the poem. //"
I am especially unsure about the intention of "bhidyate" in the second line, and "kāvyāṃśasya" in the fourth line.
Any suggestions would be most welcome!
Best,
Jacob
Jacob Schmidt-Madsen
Teaching Assistant
Department of Indology
University of Copenhagen
Denmark
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