Buddhists of Bluelight--A question I need help with:

[Khadijah]

I want to buy a copy of the Dhammapada for my man as a late birthday present, but theres just so many translations and I aint sure which one to choose.

Im askin yall, the Buddhists of Bluelight, to please help me out deciding which one to pick.

From wat Ive read, theres some straight up literal translations that are pretty dry, some liberally interpreted ones that take the principles and do more than just translate but put the translaters own thoughts into it, and some in between.

I dont want a super dry, plain, un "alive" version thats just the most literal possible translation, but I also dont want one that takes liberties with the translating and ends up changin the original meaning of the words. ideally id like to have one thats accurate to the original , but the most important thing is that it really conveys the meaning and feeling of the original, not that its word for word exactly translated literally.

If anybody here could help me with that I would appreciate it a lot. Thanks, hope somebody can lead me in the right direction and this aint too obscure of a question.

 

[being]

I would suggest going to amazon.com/co.uk search for Dhammapada and read the reviews of each translation you have in mind.
From what it looks like to me, the Gil Fronsdal translation seems to be the most highly regarded.

 

[Khadijah]

Ive already spent hours readin the reviews, but every single one has people saying its totally great and that its awful and a terrible translation. its so hard to make a decision based on that.

I am very in harmony with these beliefs, but I am far from bein well educated and well read on the literature. My man is the one who follows deeply and is more of the 'standard' follower of buddha. I felt like somebody who is more educated than I am in the traditions could tell me from a wiser point of view which one(s) they recommend as bein the most true to the source. thanks for your reply.

 

[halfoz]

the reality is that there is no better translation. they are all true to the source.

being well read on the literature is no more or less a credential for choosing what is essentially a how-to book.

 

[Dedbeet]

I'd go for looks... pick a book that looks very solid, serious, meaningful, significant, perhaps with glossy pictures interspersed. The words are going to be similar between books, prob'ly.

 

[Jamshyd]

I personally consider Juan Mascaro's translations to be the most suitable for the western reader as his method of translation takes into account the cultural connotations of words instead of blindly rendering pali into english. IMO, he manages to cover a lot of academic territory while still sounding "alive" as you say:

Mascaro's translation. (holy crap, just noticed its new price is only $7!!)

However, it seems for most people the "Standard" English translation is Byrom's, which I find accessible and nice too (I'm just personally partial to Mascaro for academic reasons). The positive about this particular edition is that it is actually palm-sized (the book, I mean), making it ideal for a gift.

Btw, since we're on the subject of pocket-sized books for gifts, I personally love to give this book as a gift, which includes the best of the Dhammapada as well as other snippets of the pali canon. Also This one, although that is for Zen rather than Theravada buddhism. These two make great gifts IMO for someone who wants light reading rather than dry scholarly work.

BUT BUT BUT! I am still a novice on the path of buddhism, so someone else may be able to give you a better answer...

Speaking of Mascaro, his translations of the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads are also remarkably good, especially for the Upanishads. But that's hindu, and you're looking for buddhism .

p.s. got your pm, will get back to you asap .

 

[modern buddha]

Books are only dry to who appeals to books that are wet. The Dhammapada has many amazing scripture, no matter which translation is chosen.

However, I currently own this one. I love it and there is enough highlighting to give me a short story on its own!

 

[Jamshyd]

^ This seems to be a commentary though, rather than the Dhammapada itself? (not sure since I can't look at the table of contents).

Either way, it is worthy of mention that the Dhammapada-proper is actually a pretty short text compared to other Buddhist texts.

 

[Khadijah]

btw, to the poster who said that it aint necessary to be schooled in it to pick a good one--I feel like its helpful. If you are educated and aware of the path of buddhism, you have the best understanding, which means that when pickin a translation, you are able to know much better which ones are the closest to the path and which ones distort or confuse the meaning makin it unclear. i think somebody who knows about the subject is a much better judge of which translation(s) is the most true to the source. so im glad for the replies here from the ones who know more than i do about it. thanks yall and id love and more replies, the more opinions to choose from and make my choice on the better.

I know it aint some kind of huge thing but i think its important becuz when it comes to this type thing you tend to think in the words that you read. people who read different translations and versions of the bible get much different meanings out of it, you feel me? So its important to have a version that when you repeat the words and passages to yourself you are puttin somethin in your mind that has the closest to the intended meaning of the author u feel me.

 

[ziggo]

ya I feel you, I believe the order of your words as well as just the words can dramatically change the effective meaning that different people gain from reading them. So if the people who are communicating their story as they feel they are most comfortable saying and believe it is the honest truth will have the other person either believe it as the truth or not doubt it fully but stay undecided.

I feel it takes a certain amount of imagination and attention to understand anything, or even having enough positive/negative experiences to want that as your new belief/truth.

So I say read every translation you can find and if you are open enough to accept if your truth will be changed at this moment and forever on, it just might from one of them.