heading to Florida…don’t know if there will be any blog entries down there, I’ll try.

but I know that if there aren’t, then I can plan for my big 1000th posting.

I’ll have stats, favorite referreals, favorite search engine terms, maybe some confetti, and perhaps a picture of a ninja turtle.

And maybe…just maybe…a picture of my archnemesis. The evil sean froyd, he whom fights against all my efforts.

stay safe…and have a good weekend.

So, in order to complete the paper of the Hindu class from last quarter at Pacifica, I’m rereading the Mahabharata. It is one of the great epics from India, and is a right good tale.

However, the translations of it differ in quality. to begin with, I would suggest reading William buck’s rendition.

Now, some people may complain because his translation is not ‘literal’ and does not have exact translation of the epic. You’re right. it doesn’t. Now the question remains…which translation is the correct one?

that’s the thing about Indian epics, none of them have one progenitor. They may have one version that is accepted as a main voice, but it is not seen as the progenitor of everything else.

the easiest way to show an example of this is the gospels. they are all tales based on Jesus’ life, but they are all differing in subtle ways. Yet not one of them is considered above the other ones. Such is the case in the epics of India.

and such is why, even though Buck did not take an exact translation but an approximation of it, I suggest the book to you to start out with. It retains the spirit and the tale, and while not exact in translation, these are what is needed in order to appreciate the story.

so. Read it. but then go on to read some other translations, because buck did change some details that are important to the original. Not so important to lose everything, but important enough to demand the original be read.

So I finally went in to get my prescription updated on my glasses to where my contacts were…a measly .25 from 1.5 to 1.75 on the left.

it is amazing, the difference.

I can see things clearly at a distance now.

it’s splendiferous!