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Sa sKya Pandita's VERSION OF PRAMĀNAVÄRTTIKAM JII.3 - A Case Study on the Influence of Exegesis upon Translation
in Tibet1
Leonard Zwilling
Despite the reputation for literalness and accuracy which Tibetan translations generally enjoy it cannot be automatically assumed that any particular translation is, in fact, a faithful rendering of the original. In those instances where a Sanskrit text is lacking the question of accuracy may be difficult if not impossible to resolve, as for example in the case of the con. flicting testimony of the two translations of Dignāga's Pramāņasammucaya;a however, where an original is available any deviation is comparitively easy to recognize. Although it was the customary practice of Tibetan translators ( lo.tsā.ba. = Skt. lokacakşu ?) to make a word rendering without willful alteration of their text one cannot be certain that a knowledge of the Sanskrit equivalents for the Tibetan will give an accurate account of what stood in the manuscript, as E. H. Johnston has observed. 3 Since many of the more prominent translators were also important teachers and founders of schools of interpretation of the texts they translated, it becomes necessary in ascertaining the accuracy of a particular translation to acquire not only a grasp of an individual translator's style but also a familiarity with the literature bearing upon the text in ques. tion such as commentaries, subcommentaries, criticism, etc. as well as the historical, that is doctrinal, context in which the translator was working and that translator's line of interpretation. It is only when these desiderata are met that one can then judge the status of any deviation and come to a decision on the question of accuracy and the offering of emendations.. SP-39
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