Why we shouldn't skip the word-for-word translations
The main difficulty in learning Sanskrit is to learn the correct meaning of the words in different contexts, and this is exactly what Prabhupada gives in his word-for-word translations.
Srila Prabhupada mentioned that everything is inside his books. These are not just empty words. After compiling the four Vedas, Vyāsadeva compiled the 108 Upanisads, making the spiritual knowledge contained in the Vedas more evident, culminating in the Vedanta-sutra, which brings forth the conclusions of the Upanisads. In the process, he also compiled the 18 Puranas, the Mahabharata, and other books.
Because the real meaning of the Vedanta Sutra is so difficult to understand, Srila Vyāsadeva was instructed by his guru, Nārada Muni, to compile another book that would directly speak about the glories of devotional service and the pastimes of Krsna, making the real meaning of the Vedanta-sutra easily available.
By the time He received this instruction, Vyāsadeva had already compiled the original Bhāgavata Purana, as part of the 18 original Puranas, but having received this instruction, he had the inspiration to rewrite the book as the Srimad Bhagavatam we have access to today. In this process, he received the help of two other great sages: His son, Śukadeva Goswami, and the son of Romaharṣaṇa, Suta Goswami, who added their realizations to the book, making it even sweeter than originally. The Srimad Bhagavatam was originally taught by Srila Vyāsadeva to Śukadeva Goswami, who added His own realization while describing it to Maharaja Pariksit. This narration was later expanded by Srila Suta Goswami, resulting in the final text. This, in turn, was commented on by different Vaishnava ācāryas, culminating with Srila Prabhupada, who compiled all this knowledge accumulated over thousands of years in his purports, adding his own realization in the process. This Srimad Bhagavatam we have access to is thus the fruit of the combined effort of all these powerful personalities.
The Srimad Bhagavatam is the authorized commentary on the Vedanta Sutra and is thus the ultimate conclusion of the Vedas. The philosophy of the Srimad Bhagavatam was then explained by Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who made the ultimate conclusion of the text even clearer.
Srila Prabhupada explains that the Bhagavad-Gita is the ABCD of spiritual life, the Srimad Bhagavatam is the graduation, and the Caitanya Caritāmṛta is the post-graduation. We often think that the Caitanya Caritāmṛta is a book of pastimes, but if we read attentively the whole text, including all the purports, we can see that it is extremely deep and has many philosophical details that are hard to understand. This is so because Srila Prabhupada wrote it for post-graduate students. The idea is that after studying the Srimad Bhagavatam, we can deepen our spiritual realization by then studying the Caitanya Caritāmṛta.
In this way, Prabhupada's books start from the basics (the Bhagavad-Gita and the smaller books), covering the intermediate level (the Srimad Bhagavatam) and the advanced level (the Caitanya Caritāmṛta). Everything one needs to return back to Godhead is contained there; therefore, to say that Prabhupada's books contain everything is not an exaggeration.
Another thing that Prabhupada offers us is a free Sanskrit master course, which is included in the form of the word-for-word translations of the verses. The main difficulty in learning Sanskrit is to learn the correct meaning of the words in different contexts, and this is exactly what Prabhupada gives in these word-for-word translations. If we study these word-for-words, we gradually learn the language. Srila Prabhupada once said that if one reads a chapter per day, including the word-for-word, one will become a Sanskrit scholar in a year. Many devotees in our movement who indeed became scholars in Sanskrit started by doing just that.
Understanding Sanskrit may not be necessary when we are studying Prabhupada's books, because he makes everything easy to understand, but it becomes essential if one wants to later study other books, because practically all the translations available in the market contain mistakes, and often they completely change the meaning of the text. If one starts reading translations of different books and takes everything at face value, they will become seriously confused.
We hear that the Vedas are perfect knowledge and that everything that is written in the scriptures must be accepted. This is true when we read translations and purports written by Srila Prabhupada and other great ācāryas, but when reading translations written by imperfect souls, one has to have some critical sense. Often, one has to go to the Sanskrit to check what the verse really means, and then filter everything through the conclusions of the previous ācāryas given by Srila Prabhupada in his books.
Just to give one example, see this translation of a passage that appears in some editions of the Taittirīya Upaniṣad:
"The vessels of the heart named hitā proceeding from the heart, surround the great membrane (round the heart); thin as a hair divided into thousand parts and filled with the minute essence of various colours, of white, of black, of yellow, and of red. When the sleeping man sees no dreams so ever, he abides in these. Then he is absorbed in that prāṇa. Then speech enters into it with all names, sight enters into it with all forms, hearing enters into it with all sounds, the mind enters into it with all thoughts."
It may not look like it, but this passage refers to the soul meeting Paramātmā inside the heart when in deep sleep. When we enter into deep sleep, the functions of the senses stop, and the soul takes shelter inside the heart, where Paramātmā stays. Just like we merge into the body of Maha-Vishnu at the end of the creation, we take shelter in Paramātmā at the end of each day.
The Sanskrit of this verse is:
hṛdayasya grīvāyāḥ pratyastāḥ hitā nāma nāḍyaḥ,
tāsu śuklā asitā pītā lohitatā ca sūkṣma-sūkṣmāḥ srotāṃsi bhavanti
tāḥ suptasya hṛdayātmānaṃ samantāt paryāvidhya tiṣṭhanti
tatra paryeti saḥ; svapnān na paśyati
saḥ prāṇe pralīyate; prāṇe ’smin sarvāṇi nāmāni abhibhavati,
cakṣuḥ sarvāṇi rūpāṇi abhibhavati,
śrotraṃ sarvāṇi śabdān abhibhavati,
manaḥ sarvān arthān abhibhavati
It could also be translated as:
From the heart emanate many subtle channels (or nādis), spreading in all directions. These channels are called Hitāḥ. Within these channels flow extremely subtle currents, colored in white, black, yellow, and red. They surround the heart on all sides, and when a person enters into deep sleep (suṣupti), he enters this abode. There, he merges into that prāna (the Lord, as Paramātmā), accompanied by all his senses, and loses contact with this world of names. He then does not speak, does not see, does not hear, and does not think.
This topic is also discussed in the Mundaka Upanisad (2.2.6) and in the Mandukya Upanisad (1.5). When these three verses are studied together, it becomes easier:
arā iva ratha-nābhau samhatā yatra nāḍyaḥ
sa eṣo ’ntaś carate bahudhājāyamānaḥ
om ity evam dhyāyatha ātmānam
svasti vaḥ pārāya tamasaḥ parastāt"All the nāḍis of the body are fixed to the heart, like spokes to the central hub of a chariot wheel. The Lord moves about within, manifesting in many ways. Meditate on this transcendental Lord through the transcendental sound vibration and by His mercy, cross beyond the darkness of ignorance. May you be blessed." (Mundaka Upanisad 2.2.6)
yatra supto na kancana kāmam kāmayate na kancana,
svapnam paśyati tat sushuptam
sushupta-sthāna ekībhūtaḥ prajñānaghana evānandamayo hy
ānandabhuk cetomukhaḥ prajñaḥ tritīyaḥ pādaḥ"The third is the state of deep sleep, called prājña, where one does not desire anything nor see any dreams. In this state, the soul experiences a blissful state of union with the Prajñānaghana (the Lord, the undivided source of consciousness and enjoyer of bliss) through the gateway of pure consciousness." (Mandukya Upanisad 1.5)
The writings of our previous ācāryas are filled with references to the Upanisads and other books, for which there are not many reliable translations available. As one progresses in his studies, some understanding of Sanskrit becomes progressively more important, and thus this early training of attentively following the word-for-word translations Prabhupada gives becomes extremely valuable.
I personally regret not having spent more time reading the word-for-word translations in the past.
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