Some years ago Sheldon Pollock, master-scholar, philologist and historian, issued a dire warning about the state of scholarship in Sanskrit and other classical Indian languages. They were in terminal decline, he warned; a nearly three millennia tradition of learning, knowledge and scholarship was drawing to a close. The pundits, vidvans and munshis are disappearing and with them will vanish an enormous amount of knowledge about India’s ancient languages. The attempts of Indian universities and colleges to keep these traditions alive have been feeble.
Good translations play a huge role in this situation. The ancient originals, in danger of being unread and unappreciated, could be translated into any modern Indian language or into English, the lingua franca of contemporary India. They can open the eyes of the young to the marvels of the past and lead, hopefully, to an enlightened understanding of India’s history and culture.
A.N.D. Haksar, diplomat and scholar-turned-translator, has been helping this cause with...
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