[Jennifer Reeser]

This is a portion of the longest epic poem ever penned. Never before has it been translated into the Urdu language. An historic moment, not to be missed:

http://www.inquisitr.com/1336638/bha...war-jalalpuri/

[Ann Drysdale]

Surely it is not longer than the Mahabharata, of which it forms only a part? Is the poet going to translate the rest of it so as to put the scripture in context?

I feel there may be a (political?) subtext here that is being hinted at by the article. Why does it describe the Gita as "infamous"? What about the version by Venkata Appala Chari? Do you have any more background on this, Jennifer?

[Jennifer Reeser]

Ann, I am afraid this is all I know, at present. I myself am quite excited. Many of my friends in the craft are poets of the East, Hindi/Urdu writers -- Sir Naseer Ahmed Nasir, a giant of Urdu literature, and a dear man, for instance.

Some of them have begun translating my own poetry into Urdu, so it has become particularly personal, for me.

But I will see what I can find out for you.

Jenn

[Jennifer Reeser]

PS. The article could be a trifle misleading, I see, in its wording for this portion of the larger epic. I have edited my previous post, to make it clearer.

Best,
Jennifer

[ross hamilton hill]

I have always thought the Gita along with the Upanishads were the two most holy books of Hinduism, it seems very odd that it is described (the second word of the article) as infamous?
Has the Gita been translated into Urdu by others before now. I read there is a dispute over the dominance of Urdu vis-a-vis Hindi, is that why this is of interest?

[Jennifer Reeser]

Thanks, no -- the Gita has never before been translated into Urdu, which is why I called this an historic moment.

I consulted an Indian writer friend, who believes the word "infamous" is used tongue-in-cheek, for humorous effect. Perhaps self-effacing, if the writer is Hindu.

[Ann Drysdale]

I have found this reported in another place, where the word "infamous" is replaced by "legendary".

I wonder if your friends are aware of the work of Khalifah Abdul Hakim (1896-1959)?

[Paddy Raghunathan]

Folks, as a practicing Hindu, translation in Urdu is welcome. That said, the Gita is hardly infamous. Yes, it is a part of the Mahabharata, which is the longest poem in the world.

But again, the Gita has been interpreted in many, many ways, even in its original Sanskrit. So the translation in Urdu may not do any justice whatsoever, and must also be taken with a pinch of salt, as it is what the author comprehends.

Gandhi gave the Gita a nonviolent interpretation, while Tilak used it to argue for violent upheaval of the British rule.

Vedantic schools interpret the Gita, and other texts differently...the Advaitic, Visishtadvaitic, and Dvaitic interpretations can be stark opposites of each other. But that is the beauty of Sanskrit, where pun can be used to convey many different meanings.

Still, an Urdu translation must be welcomed.

[Julie Steiner]

From the context, and the fact that the word was quickly replaced with "legendary", no deprecation seems to have been intended. I think the person who used the word "infamous" just wasn't aware that the word has a more negative connotation than "famous" does. After all, "inflammable" and "invaluable" mean pretty much the same thing as "flammable" and "valuable".

Now, if it had been the Kama Sutra rather than the Bhagavad Gita...

[Tim Murphy]

Everyone should read Charles Martin's recent translation. My younger brother is an Ashtanga yoga teacher, and we always used the Isherwood for our private meditations. Now we use the Martin.