2023-02-19 12:13:41 by ambuda-bot
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FOREWORD
always belonged there. Eloquent testimony
this to the research and ingenuity of the
compiler as well as to the rich copiousness
of the oldest of the world's epics.
I trust I may be allowed without impro-
priety to bestow a well-merited meed of
praise on the translator. My friend Vidva-
sagara Vidyavachaspati Professor P. P. S.
Sastri has had an exceptionally difficult task.
To turn ideas from one language to another
while preserving their spirit and true quality
is recognised as one of the rare triumphs of
scholarship. Mr. Sastri has had in this
case to bear in mind the needs of the young
student of Sanskrit. Close conformity is
required, word answering to word and clause
to clause. The voice and mood of verbs
and the forms of sentences, whether
assertive or interrogative, have to be repro-
duced wherever possible. On the top of all
this, there are the vocatives and the epithets
which are strewn about with a prodigal hand.
These last in particular cause dismay to the
poor translator. In the smooth and charm-
ing lilt of the classic, they are in their
natural setting and hardly noticed. But
always belonged there. Eloquent testimony
this to the research and ingenuity of the
compiler as well as to the rich copiousness
of the oldest of the world's epics.
I trust I may be allowed without impro-
priety to bestow a well-merited meed of
praise on the translator. My friend Vidva-
sagara Vidyavachaspati Professor P. P. S.
Sastri has had an exceptionally difficult task.
To turn ideas from one language to another
while preserving their spirit and true quality
is recognised as one of the rare triumphs of
scholarship. Mr. Sastri has had in this
case to bear in mind the needs of the young
student of Sanskrit. Close conformity is
required, word answering to word and clause
to clause. The voice and mood of verbs
and the forms of sentences, whether
assertive or interrogative, have to be repro-
duced wherever possible. On the top of all
this, there are the vocatives and the epithets
which are strewn about with a prodigal hand.
These last in particular cause dismay to the
poor translator. In the smooth and charm-
ing lilt of the classic, they are in their
natural setting and hardly noticed. But