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Future Generations (was: Re: Artha Shastra)
In article <4enef6$b9g@babbage.ece.uc.edu>, iyengar_nagasimha@jpmorgan.com (Nagasimha Iyengar) writes:
|> I was wondering if any of you netters could name a good book
|> or a web site giving
|> a sanskrit-english translation of "Artha Shaastra".
|>
|> Thanks,
|> Naga
|>
|> PS: Please, I prefer not to read translations made
|> by ISKON fanatics(who probably say
|> that Artha is attained only by surrendering to Lord Krishna)
|> or by Christian missionaries
|> (who probably claim that A.S. was written by Sir John and was
|> handed down to Indians by the British).
I'm curious - why the gratuitous insults?
Personally, I tend to make decisions _after_ examining the facts,
and if ISKCON does indeed produce a sanskrit-english translation
of the Artha ShAstra, it probably follows the same format that
most of their other translations do. In particular, the other
books have the original Sanksrit, then a word-by-word translation,
then a translation of the statement, then a purport.
It seems to me that at least some portion of it should be useful
to someone who is interested in the material. So, you may not agree
with the purports, but you can see the logical basis for them.
However, what's more interesting to me is the form of the request
itself. It seems to me that what you're saying is "I want to know
about such-and-such, but NOT if it says the following".
It reminds me of an incident where I was with some Bahai friends,
and this girl approached us. When she found out my friends were
Bahai, she went on at length about how she loved the Bahai religion
so much, and thought the Bahai's were so cool, etc., etc. My friends
then told her a little more about the religion, specifically about
how the Bahais are supposed to avoid all intoxicants.
At that point, the girl got this look on her face and said something
along the lines of "Oh, nevermind then."
I've already seen the same sort of sentiments among some of my Indian
friends, especially the younger ones. It's a desire to have your
religious beliefs fit into an already existing belief system, rather
than looking at the beliefs independently. I assume that this trend
will continue faster in the west, since we're a little more detached
from Hindu culture. Would anyone like to predict what Hindu temples
in the US will look like 3 generations from now?
-Vivek
