Western scholars became interested in Purāṇic literature as early as the eighteenth century. William Jones included three points concerning the Purāṇas in his "Desiderata" (1799) for the future study of the Orient, found after his death, and Max Müller planned to publish one Purāṇa (presumably the Vāyupurāṇa) in his well-known series of translations called Sacred Books of the East (although the task was never accomplished). The 18th century saw several attempts at fragmentary renderings of individual texts (by J. Leyden, W. Erskine, W.C. Blaquiere), but the actual translation process began with H.H. Wilson and his Vishnu Purana (1840). After that, a number of other translations were published by Western and Indian scholars throughout the "long 19th century". Although some of the eighteen major Purāṇas remained unpublished, a few of the texts made it into several English versions during this relatively short period. While introducing the English-speaking public with Indian mythology, early translators of the Purāṇas also acquainted them with very complex cultural content, including various religious practices such as yoga, undoubtedly one of the more significant themes of this class of texts. Since the authors of particular renderings came from distinct backgrounds and addressed different audiences, their representations of yoga may have differed considerably. The purpose of this paper is to compare their approaches and trace translation strategies in order to explore the specific ways in which Purāṇic yoga was adapted to the norms and values of the target culture, in the case of Western interpreters, or to the changing intellectual atmosphere in India, in the case of Indian scholars. In other words, the paper will address the issue of managing the image of yoga in a specific cultural context through the use or omission of specific concepts and terminology. It will primarily draw on the examples of the Markaṇḍeya and Garuḍapurāṇa translations and their Sanskrit editions used by the authors, as these are the most commonly rendered texts in the period, but other texts of this genre will also be referred to.
On 'religious devotion'. The cultural adaptations of yoga in the early English translations of the Purāṇas / Wasilewska, Dagmara. - (2024). (Intervento presentato al convegno 21st annual conference of the European Association for the Study of Religions, EASR2024 tenutosi a Gothenburg, Sweden).
On 'religious devotion'. The cultural adaptations of yoga in the early English translations of the Purāṇas.
Dagmara Wasilewska
2024
Abstract
Western scholars became interested in Purāṇic literature as early as the eighteenth century. William Jones included three points concerning the Purāṇas in his "Desiderata" (1799) for the future study of the Orient, found after his death, and Max Müller planned to publish one Purāṇa (presumably the Vāyupurāṇa) in his well-known series of translations called Sacred Books of the East (although the task was never accomplished). The 18th century saw several attempts at fragmentary renderings of individual texts (by J. Leyden, W. Erskine, W.C. Blaquiere), but the actual translation process began with H.H. Wilson and his Vishnu Purana (1840). After that, a number of other translations were published by Western and Indian scholars throughout the "long 19th century". Although some of the eighteen major Purāṇas remained unpublished, a few of the texts made it into several English versions during this relatively short period. While introducing the English-speaking public with Indian mythology, early translators of the Purāṇas also acquainted them with very complex cultural content, including various religious practices such as yoga, undoubtedly one of the more significant themes of this class of texts. Since the authors of particular renderings came from distinct backgrounds and addressed different audiences, their representations of yoga may have differed considerably. The purpose of this paper is to compare their approaches and trace translation strategies in order to explore the specific ways in which Purāṇic yoga was adapted to the norms and values of the target culture, in the case of Western interpreters, or to the changing intellectual atmosphere in India, in the case of Indian scholars. In other words, the paper will address the issue of managing the image of yoga in a specific cultural context through the use or omission of specific concepts and terminology. It will primarily draw on the examples of the Markaṇḍeya and Garuḍapurāṇa translations and their Sanskrit editions used by the authors, as these are the most commonly rendered texts in the period, but other texts of this genre will also be referred to.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.