Dear Nataliya,
I do not know of much discussion of translation in Sanskrit, unless we take a very large view of what 'translation' might mean, in which case the great origin tale of the bRhatkathA (as given in the early chapters of the kathAsaritsAgara and elsewhere) would
be a wonderful example. No doubt others on the list will have additional suggestions.
For translation within the South Asian literary field more broadly, it may be worthwhile for your student to look at Sheldon Pollock's Literary Cultures in History. Unfortunately, 'translation' was not carefully indexed - there is only one entry, though there
are in fact many more references to translation passim. (My own contribution includes several pages on the subject, not at all reflected in the index.)
If one is considering Sanskrit as a source language, then there is a substantial literature in Chinese, Tibetan and Farsi dealing with technical, historical, and anecdotal aspects of translation from Sanskrit - but that is all a very big story. The articles
on Tibetan and Persian in in Literary Cultures offer a start.
good luck!
Matthew
Matthew Kapstein
Directeur
d'études,
Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes
Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies,
The University of Chicago
Dear Colleagues,
Happy New Year!
A student of mine wants to study Sanskrit texts about translation and translators. She also asked me if I knew any short poems or jokes – again, in Sanskrit – about translators. Could you please kindly suggest anything? Frankly, I know nothing about this
topic – have never encountered such texts!
Many thanks and best wishes,
Nataliya
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Nataliya Yanchevskaya
Lecturer in Sanskrit
PIIRS, Princeton University