Kisari Mohan Ganguli
Encyclopedia
Kisari Mohan Ganguli was an India
n translator, who is most known for the first complete English translation of the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata
published as The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Translated into English Prose between 1883 to 1896 by Pratap Chandra Roy (1842–1895), a Calcutta bookseller, who owned a printing press, and collected funds for the project to translate 18 books of the Mahabharat.
, Ganguli mentions the sequence of events that lead to the publication. Sometime in early 1870s, Pratapa Chandra Roy, with Babu Durga Charan Banerjee, visited Ganguli at his home in Shibpur
in Howrah West Bengal
requesting him to take up the translation project, which he took up after initial reluctance and a second meeting, when extensive plans were drawn, and the copy of a translation by Max Muller
was left behind, made some thirty years ago, which on study Ganguli found to be literal and lacking in flow. Thus he started tweaking the text line by line, though "without at all impairing faithfulness to the original". Soon a dozen sheets of his first 'copy' were typed and sent to noted writers, both European and Indian, and only receiving a favorable response from them that the project was initiated.
Ganguli wanted publish the translation anonymously, while Roy was against it. Ganguli believed that the project was too mammoth for any one to believe it to the work of a single person, and he might not live to complete the project and adding names of successive translators to appear on the title page was undesirable. Eventually, a compromise was reached, though the name of the translator was withheld on the cover, the first book of Adi Parva, that came out in 1883, was published with two prefaces, one over the signature of the publisher and the other headed--'Translator's Preface', to avoid any future confusions, when a reader might confuse the publisher for the author.
However the by the time Book 4 was released, the withholding of authorship did create controversy, as "an influential Indian journal" accused Pratap Chandra Roy "posing before the world as the translator of Vyasa's work when, in fact, he was only the publisher". Roy immediately wrote a letter in clarification, citing the preface, but the confusion remained for many years, amongst reader who overlooked the preface. Once all the books 1 to 18 were successfully translated the name was no longer withheld from the publication. More recently, the scholars to correct this discrepancy were Ronald Inden
and Maureen Patterson, compilers of the University of Chicago
's Bibliography to South Asian Studies, K.M. Knott in the Janus Press Edition of the first two books of the Mahabharata and A.C. Macdonnell.
The Ganguli English translation of the Mahabharata remains the only complete one to date, and is now in public domain
. His translation was reprinted by Munshiram Manoharlal
Publishers.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n translator, who is most known for the first complete English translation of the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
published as The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Translated into English Prose between 1883 to 1896 by Pratap Chandra Roy (1842–1895), a Calcutta bookseller, who owned a printing press, and collected funds for the project to translate 18 books of the Mahabharat.
Publication of the translation
The "Translator's Preface" in the Book 1: Adi ParvaAdi Parva
Mahabharta Book 1 Adi Parva is a book about how the Mahabharata came to be narrated by Sauti to the assembled rishis at Naimisharanya. The recital of the Mahabharata at the Sarpasatra of Janamejaya by Vaishampayana at . The history of the Bharata race is told in detail and the parvan also traces...
, Ganguli mentions the sequence of events that lead to the publication. Sometime in early 1870s, Pratapa Chandra Roy, with Babu Durga Charan Banerjee, visited Ganguli at his home in Shibpur
Shibpur
Shibpur is a residential area located in the city of Howrah, West Bengal, India. It is well known for being the location of the Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden, the Bengal Engineering College and the Hazar Hath Kaali Temple. The famous Bengali linguist Suniti Kumar Chatterji...
in Howrah West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
requesting him to take up the translation project, which he took up after initial reluctance and a second meeting, when extensive plans were drawn, and the copy of a translation by Max Muller
Max Müller
Friedrich Max Müller , more regularly known as Max Müller, was a German philologist and Orientalist, one of the founders of the western academic field of Indian studies and the discipline of comparative religion...
was left behind, made some thirty years ago, which on study Ganguli found to be literal and lacking in flow. Thus he started tweaking the text line by line, though "without at all impairing faithfulness to the original". Soon a dozen sheets of his first 'copy' were typed and sent to noted writers, both European and Indian, and only receiving a favorable response from them that the project was initiated.
Ganguli wanted publish the translation anonymously, while Roy was against it. Ganguli believed that the project was too mammoth for any one to believe it to the work of a single person, and he might not live to complete the project and adding names of successive translators to appear on the title page was undesirable. Eventually, a compromise was reached, though the name of the translator was withheld on the cover, the first book of Adi Parva, that came out in 1883, was published with two prefaces, one over the signature of the publisher and the other headed--'Translator's Preface', to avoid any future confusions, when a reader might confuse the publisher for the author.
However the by the time Book 4 was released, the withholding of authorship did create controversy, as "an influential Indian journal" accused Pratap Chandra Roy "posing before the world as the translator of Vyasa's work when, in fact, he was only the publisher". Roy immediately wrote a letter in clarification, citing the preface, but the confusion remained for many years, amongst reader who overlooked the preface. Once all the books 1 to 18 were successfully translated the name was no longer withheld from the publication. More recently, the scholars to correct this discrepancy were Ronald Inden
Ronald Inden
Ronald Inden is an American Indologist, and professor emeritus in the Departments of History and of South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago and is a major scholar in South Asian and post-colonial studies...
and Maureen Patterson, compilers of the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
's Bibliography to South Asian Studies, K.M. Knott in the Janus Press Edition of the first two books of the Mahabharata and A.C. Macdonnell.
The Ganguli English translation of the Mahabharata remains the only complete one to date, and is now in public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
. His translation was reprinted by Munshiram Manoharlal
Munshiram Manoharlal
Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd. is a leading Indian publishing house located in New Delhi, India. Established in 1952 by Manohar Lal Jain, it is one of the oldest and most well-reputed publishing houses in India...
Publishers.
External links
- The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli at the Internet Sacred Text ArchiveInternet Sacred Text ArchiveThe Internet Sacred Text Archive is a website dedicated to the preservation of electronic public domain texts, specifically those with significant cultural value...