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The other example, of denigration, is given here below
from W.D. Whitney’s translation of the Atharvaveda (7, 107, 1)
edited and revised by K.L. Joshi, published by Parimal
Publications, Delhi, 2004:
Namaskætya dyåvåpæthiv∂bhyåmantarik¶åya mætyave.
Mek¶åmyμurdhvasti¶¢han må må hinsi¶hur∂‹varå¨.
“Having paid homage to heaven and earth, to the
atmosphere, to Death, I will urinate standing erect; let not the
Lords (Ishvara) harm me.”
I give below an English rendering of the same mantra
translated by Pundit Satavalekara in Hindi:
“Having done homage to heaven and earth and to the
middle regions and Death (Yama), I stand high and watch (the
world of life). Let not my masters hurt me.”
An English rendering of the same mantra translated by
Pundit Jai Dev Sharma in Hindi is the following:
“Having done homage to heaven and earth (i.e. father and
mother) and to the immanent God and Yama (all Dissolver),
standing high and alert, I move forward in life. These masters of
mine, pray, may not hurt me.”
I would like to quote my own translation of the mantra
now under print:
“Having done homage to heaven and earth, and to the
middle regions, and having acknowledged the fact of death as
inevitable counterpart of life under God’s dispensation, now
standing high, I watch the world and go forward with showers of
the cloud. Let no powers of earthly nature hurt and violate me.”
‘Showers of the cloud’ is a metaphor, as in Shelley’s poem
‘the Cloud’: “I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers”,
which suggests a lovely rendering.
The problem here arises from the verb ‘mekshami’ from
the root ‘mih’ which means ‘to shower’ (
sechane
). It depends on
the translator’s sense and attitude to sacred writing how the
message is received and communicated in an interfaith context
with no strings attached (or unattached).
( xxvii )
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