gatito Posted January 21, 2016 (edited) Following on from 3bobs request here, I thought that a thread-split was appropriate to discuss the translation of mantras. I'll start the ball rolling by offering two, neither if which I'll translate because the point that I'd like to make is that they don't translate and that I only started to understand the workings of mantras properly after I started to learn sanskrit (which is an ongoing project of life-long learning). So the two mantras that I'll offer to support my point are ॐ (Auṃ or Oṃ) and the gāyatrī mantra. There's some further reading here for ॐ and here for the gāyatrī. After a decent interval, I'll come back and disagree with Wikipedia and offer my own view (if someone indicates any serious interest). In the interim, I'll let the incomparable gāyatrī speak for itself (although these versions may not appeal to any traditionalists ): - Edited January 21, 2016 by gatito Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dwai Posted January 21, 2016 With the Gayatri mantra it is not necessarily a case of literal understanding the mantra. The Gayatri has to be transmitted by a teacher, during upanayanam. It is whispered into the ear of the individual. But knowing the correct chchanda (meter) and laya (rhythm) is very important. Even in this example I provide, the chchanda and laya are correct (how I was taught it) but the pronunciation is marred as the person chanting is Tamil and mispronounces Sanskrit... 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gatito Posted January 21, 2016 (edited) Thanks for the input dwai. I'm glad that you've found the time to be active in the new forum. Correct pronunciation and metre are of course vital and indeed these are obviously completely absent in translation. Regarding the concept of transmission: who do you believe transmits whatever you assert gets transmitted. Do you believe that the transmission is from a jīva or controlled in any way by a jīva? Perhaps the subject for a separate thread if you'd like to start one? Edit to add: - I've taken the liberty of starting the thread here to save you the trouble. Looking forward to your further input. Edited January 21, 2016 by gatito 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
