Microsoft Word Revised Syllabus Ver doc

Peculiarities of Indian Translation 
A study of translation in India would reveal that there are certain peculiarities 
associated with it. First and foremost, in India there was a habit of considering translation as 
original writing. Translation was being done even in the very early days. But translation done 
then was considered like any other new contribution. In most of these cases the SLT had been 
the Sanskrit classics; and Mahabharata and Ramayana seem to have been the favourites of 
translators. In almost every regional language these epics have been translated. In Tamil there 

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is Kamba Ramayanam and Villi Bharatam. The SLT for these works were the original 
Sanskrit works namely the Valmiki Ramayana and the Vyasa Bharat. The translators have 
adapted these Sanskrit texts to their local cultures. For instance, in the Sanskrit Ramayan, in 
the episode dealing with the abduction of Sita, the heroine is simply carried away by Ravan 
in his Vimana. Whereas when Kamban translated the episode he adopted it to suit the local 
culture. In his translation Kamban pictures Sita being abducted along with the small hut in 
which she stays, without Ravan touching her. These translations are viewed as “complete self 
contained literary works irrespective of their sources” and “writing in this context is not 
divorced from the act of original composition”. It is an extreme form of liberty taken by the 
translator by not acknowledging the copyright of the SLT. 
However, the non-acknowledgement to the copyright of the author of the SLT is not 
out of any disrespect for him. Discussing this topic Mukherjee points out how this practice of 
ignoring and neglecting the copyright of a work is ingrained in our literary practice itself. He 
explains that the two types of translation – Rupantar i.e. changed in form and Anuvad i.e. 
following after – which existed in India do not demand fidelity to the original or 
acknowledgement of the copyright of the SLT. The trend of clearly distinguishing between 
the original and the translation came ‘to effect’ form the West. However, greater 
Consciousness of one’s responsibility and duty as a translator has to be instilled in the Indian 
translators.