Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

Re-scripting the scriptures

`It is indeed a tough job to translate the four Vedas from early Sanskrit into today's lingua franca, Hindi,' asserts Rekha Vyas, a renowned scholar of Sanskrit. She should know for she undertook the task of translating the Vedas into a common man's language. Reason? "I always wanted to utilise the language I learned for some social and literary cause. Earlier, I could read the Vedas but could not interpret them. But after I shifted to Delhi some 14 years ago from Udaipur, I did meditation and rigorously researched the Vedas and this finally led me to translate them."

But what pertinence do the Vedas have in today's life? "The gospels in the Vedas chiefly pertain to the virtues and vices of human life. For example, the Vedas prohibit man from procuring black money, indulging in fraud, lies and several such vices that damage morality. I have studied holy books of other religions and have found stark similarities between them and the Vedas. Every scripture teaches us to respect humanity and forbids violence," Vyas points out.

As for the teachings of the Vedas about nature and the environment, she remarks, "The Kitava Suktas advocate strictly for taking care of nature's inhabitants and the environment. There are edicts that tell men to respect women and not inflict violence on them."

Specially for women

Asked how far the saying that women are strictly prohibited from touching the Vedas is credible, she replies, "In Vedic times the society was not patriarchal. Rather it was women-dominated. Women too had a say in the household affairs. Earlier, there were rishikas (women saints) who contributed 27 verses to the texts. And if anybody says that women cannot touch or read the Vedas, he is misleading people. I have translated the Vedas so that women particularly can read and practice them in their everyday life."

Talking about the legwork that went into this project, she recounts, "I did an exhaustive research to collect the most widely used jargons of common man. I talked to farmers, rickshaw wallahs and village women. It took almost 10 years to get close to my target. As of now, I have finished the translation of the Sam Veda and the Yajur Veda. These are out for sale."

The price, she says, "has been kept low so that anybody can afford it." The translations of the Rig Veda and Atharva Veda are still with the publishers and are expected to come out in a year or two. Vyas also has plans to translate the Upanishads and the Puranas.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail