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12/23/2011 - IMPORTANT NEWS
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Śiva now founds Non-dual Shaivism of Rosario also known as "Rosario's Trika". More information on the blog.
06/19/2013 - Stanzas 71 to 74 in Paramārthasāra
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The stanzas 71 to 74 in Paramārthasāra are now fully translated together with their commentaries.
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The great dragon (the translator destroyer) here was the stanza 74. It was difficult to kill because after having translated 73 commentaries composed as if the commentator had been chased by Genghis Khan while writing, I got really fed up with his extremely involved style. These are things that only another Sanskrit translator can understand. Many people will read the text and will say: "It is rather clear!". The problem is in Sanskrit all the time and not in English, let alone Spanish (my native language). All in all, the final portion of the stanza 74 was translated by me with fury till the damn creature finally died. Oh well, I am not a peaceful yogī with a big sickly-sweet smile on my face all day long for the cameras. Those are the false Guru-s who are extremely nice but completely ignorant at the same time. To translate Sanskrit, specially involved Sanskrit like that of Yogarāja, you must have a different attitude. A big smile will not do the trick against a host of stanzas and commentaries written by great sages endowed with massive knowledge and wisdom, that is sure thing. You have to be tenacious like hell to overcome all the inherent difficulties. And this task will not make you a smiling guy, because after several hours thinking about what the heck another guy really meant in a particular paragraph you will not be very happy, this is sure thing too. The task of translating Sanskrit is always hard like the skin of a shark, and no way that the ones doing it will be very happy with that for the most part. Every time I finish translating something in Sanskrit, I constantly feel that the author could have written it in an easier manner... but no way, this is a kind of war and the enemy will give you no mercy.
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This Sanskrit ignorance pervading the entire world is losing a battle here very quickly. This pleases me so much, no doubt about it!
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Enjoy!
06/14/2013 - Verb (2) and Verbs (3) in Brazilian Portuguese
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Our collaborators, Paulo and Claudio, translated two long documents into Brazilian Portuguese: Verbs (2) and Verbs (3).
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With these two new translations, the subsection "Verbs" is now entirely available in Brazilian Portuguese.
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Enjoy!
06/08/2013 - Stanzas 67 to 70 in Paramārthasāra
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The stanzas 67 to 70 in Paramārthasāra are now thoroughly translated together with their commentaries.
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This time I had to kill two dragons in a row, but surprisingly I am not tired at all.
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The greatest dragon was the stanza 67 and its commentary, where the level of Sanskrit difficulty was high. Anyway, in my opinion, that is also the most important stanza (and commentary) in this set of four.
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Two thirds of the scripture are translated by now (70 stanzas and commentaries out of 105). I am ready to eliminate all the remaining obstacles and finish the task I undertook the last year then, no doubt about it.
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Enjoy!
05/28/2013 - Stanzas 63 to 66 in Paramārthasāra
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The stanzas 63 to 66 in Paramārthasāra are now totally translated together with their commentaries.
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Oh, my intellect is so tired that I will not comment anything about my work, except that the task of translating all that was simply like fighting a dragon during around eleven days. The dragon is now dead then and this is good news for the readers.
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Enjoy!
05/17/2013 - Stanzas 59 to 62 in Paramārthasāra
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The stanzas 59 to 62 in Paramārthasāra are now fully translated along with their respective commentaries.
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The stanza 60 and its commentary are a real jewel because they explain in detail what Trika defines as "Liberation". Fortunately such a description coincides with what I have been saying about Liberation in Trika for so many years. It would have been a real misfortune if Abhinavagupta and Yogarāja had said a different thing about the subject. Why? Because I would have had to search and delete so many lines of text already written and published on this huge website. The good news is that I will not have to delete anything at all. Just kidding!
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The commentary on the stanza 59 is not a translator-killer but something much worse... a translator-terror would be a better name. The Sanskrit style is so involved and tricky that the fact that my intellect could interpret and translate it was quite a feat (no jokes here). It was so difficult to translate that I had to laugh at every step while translating that little monster, specially at the beginning of it.
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The remaining two stanzas (61 and 62) were relatively simple to translate.
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The intellect of the reader will suffer a little this time because the commentator (Yogarāja) wrote sentences "miles long" that are impossible to divide into shorter ones due to the constant presence of, e.g. correlatives. Correlatives in Sanskrit are "usually" two words that are subtly joined, e.g. "just as... in the same way/similarly/even so". The problem with Yogarāja's style of writing is that between a "just as" and a "in the same way", for instance, there are tons of words forcing the reader to forget the correlation with "just as" when he reaches "in the same way". I tried hard to make the sentences so clear and readable as possible by using hyphens and other tricks of translator, but I had to make some compromises in order to keep the literal meaning without alteration on my part. The eternal problem with these scriptures is always the involved Sanskrit style full of long sentences and strange ways of expressing it all. Remember that this scripture dates from the 12th century anyway. So, it cannot be read like a novelette or something. NO, it generally demands an important intellectual effort on the part of the reader.
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In the future I will add the respective notes of explanation. This will clarify many things for you. Be patient in the meantime then.
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Enjoy!
05/06/2013 - Stanzas 55 to 58 in Paramārthasāra
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The stanzas 55 to 58 in Paramārthasāra are now thoroughly translated together with their corresponding commentaries.
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These stanzas and their respective commentaries contain a precious spiritual knowledge the reader should not miss out.
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To translate all those stanzas and commentaries was relatively easy except for the usual difficulties with adapting Sanskrit to English for delivering a text that is both literal and readable. So, there was no translator-destroyer this time.
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Enjoy!
04/28/2013 - Stanzas 51 to 54 in Paramārthasāra
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The stanzas 51 to 54 in Paramārthasāra are now fully translated together with their respective commentaries.
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Provided the reader has read the previous stanzas, to understand the present stanzas 51 to 54 (plus commentaries) will be no problem to him.
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The translation of those stanzas and their commentaries was not either a difficult task. So, there was not any translator-destroyer this time... my good luck!
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Enjoy!
04/21/2013 - Stanzas 44 to 50 in Paramārthasāra
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The stanzas 44 to 50 in Paramārthasāra are now completely translated along with their corresponding commentaries.
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The stanza 44 and its commentary can be easily understood by the average reader, provided he had read the rest of the scripture, of course.
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The stanza 45 is completely "out of the mental arena". That knowledge can only be understood by very advanced disciples and great sages. I am surprised that Abhinavagupta included this in a scripture that is mainly intended for beginners in Trika. Now one realizes why the great Master was known as Śeṣa (the celebrated fearsome thousand-headed serpent) among his tender pupils (the beginners). Evidently, Abhinavagupta, being endowed with massive experience and knowledge, had to be a spooky personage in the eyes of his "baby" pupils, hehe. The commentary written by Yogarāja is somewhat clarifying but yet very difficult to understand if one lacks direct experience about the subject being dealt with in this absolutely non-mental stanza. In my future notes of explanation I will show a simple example to explain all that in the easiest possible way within the usual mental limitations. For the ones who are interested in going deep at the subject right now, they can read Parāprāveśikā meanwhile.
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The stanza 46 is also difficult to understand without direct experience. Anyway, it is not so difficult as the previous one. Consult the Tattvic Chart when you read this stanza and its commentary, please, so you will come to understand some things much better.
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The stanzas 47 to 50 are not difficult to understand, in my opinion. But yes, their commentary is lengthy as an ocean indeed. I marked in the translation the end of the commentaries on each of the stanzas for making the reader's life easier. The final portion of the stanza 50 has several possible translations. I just gave two. The commentator did not shed light on the real meaning of that portion but he rather took for granted that the reader would know what Abhinavagupta was talking about.
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Finally, regarding the matter: "What was the translator-destroyer?", hehe: The commentary on the stanza 46 was the winner, no doubt about it. The commentator writes in such a complex way that it is just ridiculous. Fortunately for the average reader, there is no intellect-destroyer in his case except perhaps the stanza 45 (which is not really an intellect-destroyer because no intellect can fully apprehend the Truth in it without direct experience first).
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Enjoy!
04/11/2013 - Declension - Indeclinables
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The document Declension - Indeclinables was completely translated into Brazilian Portuguese by our collaborators Paulo and Claudio.
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Enjoy!
04/07/2013 - Stanzas 40 to 43 in Paramārthasāra
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The stanzas 40 to 43 in Paramārthasāra are now thoroughly translated together with their respective commentaries.
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The stanza 40 and its commentary can be easily understood by the average reader.
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The stanza 41 and its commentary are tricky not only due to the constant long sentences written by the commentator but also because you must have read the previous 40 stanzas to understand to a certain extent the entire question about the three eggs. Besides, this stanza and commentary start to speak about Sat or Being, a topic that will require a lengthy note of explanation very probably (for the ones who are interested in learning about Sat or Being, I must say that they should read the explanation of the Sauḥ Mantra in Parāprāveśikā).
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The stanza 42 and its commentary are easily understandable but there is a mention of "the development of the madhyaśakti" there, which is again a little complex. Madhyaśakti or middle power is developed every time you pay attention to the middle portion between two things, two movements, etc. (e.g. when you meditate on the gap between inhalation and exhalation, etc.).
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The stanza 43 and its commentary deal with the third Brahma where Sat or Being (all the tattva-s from Māyā --tattva 6-- to Pṛthivī --tattva 36--) comes to ultimately rest on the achievement of Final Liberation (also called Self-realization). Read the Tattvic Chart while you await my detailed future notes of explanation so you will have a better idea about what I said. There are some quotes in the commentary that require a certain knowledge of Indian philosophies in order to understand their full meaning, but the average readers will be OK for the most part. I also recommend to read my study of the Sanskrit letters for having a better understanding of what the commentator meant to say by "seed letters known as Imperishable": First Steps (4) and First Steps (5). Finally, the third Brahma mentioned there is Sadāśiva (tattva 3) while the first and second Brahma are Śiva and Śakti (tattva-s 1 and 2). This use of the word Brahma in Trika is a little tricky too.
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The stanza 41 and its commentary were a translator-destroyer, unfortunately. The Sanskrit style of the commentator there, very specially in his introduction to that stanza, is from another galaxy, hehe. To arrange the entire word by word translation in a way that was both literal and readable consumed an enormous quantity of my intellectual resources.
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Enjoy!
04/05/2013 - Declension (2)
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Paulo and Claudio translated Declension (2) for all our dear Portuguese-speaking visitors.
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Enjoy!
03/27/2013 - Stanzas 36 to 39 in Paramārthasāra
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The stanzas 36 to 39 in Paramārthasāra are now completely translated along with their respective commentaries.
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The new stuff will be mostly legible to the average reader. The only translator-destroyer was the commentary on the stanza 37 (I almost passed away there, hehe) because although I am used to the extremely involved Sanskrit style of Yogarāja, in his commentary on that stanza he has made all possible effort to write in such a difficult manner that I needed the assistance of the entire group of 300 million gods of the Hindu pantheon in order to understand him. Yes, I am exaggerating, but one thing is true: These three sages, Yogarāja, his Guru Kṣemarāja and his great-grand Guru Abhinavagupta, form a triad that can easily liquidate any translator if he/she is too self-confident. They write in ways only a demigod can understand. If you are a rookie in Sanskrit grammar, you better stay away from the writings of those three great sages of the Trika tradition since they have not evidently written for you to make your first steps in Sanskrit.
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Enjoy!
03/17/2013 - Stanzas 32 to 35 in Paramārthasāra
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The stanzas 32 to 35 in Paramārthasāra are now completely translated together with their respective commentaries.
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There is only one intellect-destroyer now, the commentary on the stanza 33, but only in the case of the poor translator who almost passed away in the process of understanding and translating the synthetic and cryptic Sanskrit style of the commentator. Anyway, the average readers who are interested in Non-dual Shaivism of Kashmir should not have any problem reading these stanzas, except maybe in the case of the stanza 35 where some basic knowledge about Vedānta system is required. And, of course, there are also hidden meanings, as usual in the Trika scriptures, which I will explain in future Bible-size notes of explanation surely.
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Enjoy!
02/26/2013 - Stanzas 28 to 31 in Paramārthasāra along with Declination (1)
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First: The stanzas 28 to 31 in Paramārthasāra were totally translated along with their respective commentaries.
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These stanzas will need many and long notes of explanation, as usual, specially the last two (30 and 31), whose commentaries are "authentic" intellect-destroyers even in English! (let alone in Sanskrit, where the complexity is just laughable!). As Yogarāja seems to be stepping on the accelerator to the floor, the task of translating his commentary is turning out to be a particularly serious one.
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Second: Paulo and Claudio translated Declination (1) into Brazilian Portuguese too! This is good news for Portuguese-speaking visitors, no doubt about it!
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Enjoy!
02/17/2013 - Paramārthasāra: I published the remaining stanzas and commentaries (untranslated yet)
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All the remaining stanzas and commentaries of Paramārthasāra (from stanza 28 to stanza 105) are now published. Yes, they are still untranslated but there you have them both in original Sanskrit and transliterated.
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It was horribly time-consuming to build all those pages in three languages, correcting Sandhi (combination of words in Sanskrit), etc. in the process, but it serves two purposes now: (1) Sanskrit scholars will be able to read the rest of the scripture in case they do not have a copy of it already, (2) Non-scholars will be able to behold the immensity of their Sanskrit ignorance. Joking! The great purpose behind my hard work was to have the entire scripture "already" written for future translations. Yes, I could have done that horrible/boring task "little by little" as I continued to translate, but I prefer to "swallow" the bitter things first and quick, you know.
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Enjoy!
02/15/2013 - Sandhi Rules
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Our collaborators Paulo and Claudio translated Sandhi Rules into Brazilian Portuguese.
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With this update, I can affirm that the Sanskrit/Combination subsection is now entirely in Brazilian Portuguese.
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Enjoy!
02/14/2013 - Combination (7)
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Our collaborators Paulo and Claudio finished translating Combination (7) into Brazilian Portuguese too!
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Enjoy!
02/11/2013 - Combination (6)
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Our collaborators Paulo and Claudio are making a great effort: They finished translating Combination (6) into Brazilian Portuguese for you!
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Enjoy!
02/10/2013 - Stanzas 24 to 27 in Paramārthasāra
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I translated the stanzas 24 to 27 in Paramārthasāra (along with their commentaries, of course). I did not add any note of explanation yet.
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The stanza 24 defines the three Mala-s or Impurities with great precision. The stanza 25 speaks about the confusion of the Self who, though non-dual, considers Himself to be dual. The stanza 26 explains that all the states belong to Lord Śiva. And the stanza 27 points out the fact that the Truth as stated by other philosophies (such as Yogācāra Buddhism, Advaitavedānta and the Vedic tradition in general together with the systems Vaiśeṣika, Nyāya, Cārvāka, etc.) are mere empiric discourse; all in all, those systems do not show the Truth at all.
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Stanzas 24, 25 and 26 are rather understandable to the average reader even without my notes of explanation, but the stanza 27 requires a lot of knowledge about the philosophical systems of India as a whole. You are warned then. I will explain all this later on by one gazillion long notes as always.
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Enjoy!