பகவத்கீதைக்கு நவீன ஆங்கில மொழிபெயர்ப்பு- விர்ஜினியா பேராசிரியர்

பகவத்கீதைக்கு ஏராளமான மொழிபெயர்ப்புகள் உள்ளன. இன்னொரு ஆங்கில மொழிபெயர்ப்பை பகவத்கீதையை வெகுகாலம் படித்து உணர்ந்து பயன்படுத்திய கிரிஸ்டோபர் நியுபோர்ட் பல்கலைக்கழக பேராசிரியர் கிரகாம் எம் ஸ்விக் அவர்கள் உருவாக்கியிருக்கிறார்கள்.
அதன் கவித்துவம், அழகு உள்ளுறை கெடாமல் ஒரு முயற்சி செய்திருப்பதாக கூறுகிறார்.

அமெரிக்காவில் விர்ஜினியா மாநிலத்தில் உள்ள இந்த பல்கலைக்கழகம் மிகவும் புகழ்பெற்றது.


Christopher Newport scholar gives Hindu poem a fresh 'polish'

Graham M. Schweig is the author of a new translation of the Bhagavad Gita, one of the best-known Hindu works in the West. His aim, he says, was to capture its poetry without dumbing it down or making it too esoteric.

By STEVEN G. VEGH , The Virginian-Pilot
© May 26, 2007


NEWPORT NEWS - He's a meditation master who teaches religion, but when Graham M. Schweig ponders the ways other translators have treated his beloved Bhagavad Gita, inner peace yields to bloodthirsty disdain.

"They should be taken out and shot," said Schweig, a Christopher Newport University scholar whose new translation, "Bhagavad Gita: The Beloved Lord's Secret Love Song," was released last month by the publishing house HarperCollins.

There's no lack of translations of the Gita, a Sanskrit poem more than 2,000 years old that was first rendered into English in 1785.

The Indian text, which examines divine answers to humanity's age-old spiritual dilemmas, quickly became the best-known Hindu work in the West. It remains widely available, with readers ranging from college students to devotees of eastern religion.

But Schweig, 53, who teaches Indian and comparative religion, condemns most versions as feckless betrayals of the original Gita.

He said they're either so dumbed down and abbreviated that they treat the Gita like pop religion or so scholarly that they rob the text of its rich, poetic style.

Schweig said his duty was clear: "Get out of the way and let the text shine through, like a beautiful gem that is polished over and over and over until it glows."

Schweig prides himself on the difference between his work and others'. In his Newport News home, brimming with Indian art, he flipped open his book to a random page.



Scholar Graham M. Schweig embraces the spirituality of the Bhagavad Gita as his personal faith and performs yoga as a religious practice. Genevieve Ross/The Virginian-Pilot


"This is the way this verse is typically translated: 'I am the source of everything and everything emanates from me,' " Schweig recited.

Then his own translation: " 'I am, of everything, the coming forth into being; from me everything is set forth into motion.' "

Schweig looked up with deep satisfaction. "It's rich! Poetically rich, philosophically rich," he said contentedly. "So you don't have to take me out and shoot me."

At Harper, senior editor Eric Brandt said the "sheer force" of Schweig's enthusiasm and his high standing among Hindu studies scholars persuad ed the publishing house to commission the new translation. The book also was endorsed by Huston Smith, a renowned religion expert.

The edition includes the Gita's full text in Sanskrit, a Sanskrit pronunciation guide, a commentary on the text, footnoted annotations and a verse index.

Brandt said the book is being marketed to libraries, academics, bookstores, Hindu centers in the United States and the 50 biggest yoga studios in the country. "We're very proud to have published this," he said.

The Gita remains important to Hindus, including members of the Hindu Temple of Hampton Roads in Chesapeake, which has about 500 members.

Vinod B. Agarwal, an Old Dominion University professor and temple trustee, said the principal deities of the Gita - Radha and Krishna - are reverenced in mantras and worship.

Agarwal also said new English editions of the Gita might appeal even to Hindus with Indian roots, such as his daughters.

Of the three, only one reads Hindi, an Indian language. "For the other two, the English translation would be much more useful than Hindi or Sanskrit," he said.

Given his Austro-Hungarian heritage and Reform Jewish background, Schweig's destiny seemed unlikely to include deciphering ancient Sanskrit.

Born in Manhattan and raised in Washington, he cared little for books until he was cured at 13 of a sight disorder that had made reading a chore.

Schweig said he quickly came to love the Bhagavad Gita and learned Sanskrit while earning a doctorate in comparative religion at Harvard.

"It's absolutely gorgeous language, and this is where I live - I live in these verses, in this poetry, in this poetic world," said Schweig, who spent three years translating the Gita.

Schweig also embraces the spirituality in the Gita as his personal faith. He is a strict vegetarian, and he converted his home's dining room into a meditation room, with Hindu deities, paintings, pillows and an Oriental rug. He calls himself a yogi and performs yoga as a religious practice.

Schweig - who has lectured on his work at the Smithsonian Institution, Oxford and other universities - credits his scholarship with revealing unknown features in the ancient text.

"One of the things I discovered was the Gita was a whole lot more about yoga than anyone had supposed prior to me," said Schweig, who teaches yoga workshops in Hampton Roads.

According to Schweig, yoga positions balance the body so the metaphysical self is set free to find and unite with the divine.

The Bhagavad Gita also portrays a God who is far more tender than the Creator portrayed in Judaism or Christianity, he said.

Jesus may be the prince of peace, Schweig said, but in the West, "God is a god of judgment. He's a jealous god, he's a god of punishment."

But in the Gita, the supreme deity is more secret suitor than demanding overlord, Schweig said.

In fact, the god of the Gita intentionally soft-pedals his yearning for union with humanity so that mutual affection can build naturally, Schweig said.

"He knows that if he keeps his love song secret, we stand the chance of loving him purely without the threat of condemnation because love can never be forced," Schweig said. "He sends out a secret love song for those who are ready to hear it."


Reach Steven G. Vegh at (757) 446-2417 or steven.vegh@pilotonline.com.