Bible translations into Sanskrit

Translation of the Bible into Sanskrit is among the first wave of Bible translations into Indian languages.

History

Translation work of the Bible into Sanskrit was undertaken by William Carey soon after his arrival in India as a missionary. He had the conviction that a Sanskrit Bible would be an ideal medium to communicate with the intellectual mass of India. He also believed that a Sanskrit Bible would serve as a basis for translating the Bible into other Indian vernacular languages. He was greatly aided by native Sanskrit pandits in this endeavour.^{[citation needed]} The texts were translated from the original Greek and Hebrew.^{[citation needed]}

The New Testament was published at the Baptist Missionary Press in Calcutta in 1808, and the Old Testament in four volumes followed in 1818.^{[citation needed]}

Translation	John (यीहनः) 3:16
नूतनधर्म्मनियमः	ईश्वर इत्थं जगददयत यत् स्वमद्वितीयं तनयं प्राददात् ततो यः कश्चित् तस्मिन् विश्वसिष्यति सोऽविनाश्यः सन् अनन्तायुः प्राप्स्यति।[1]

Current status

Though the Calcutta Baptist Missionaries brought out the Bible in the Sanskrit language with great enthusiasm and expectation, their efforts gained little traction, partly because of the influx of Bible translations in the vernacular languages also issuing from the presses. Even though there were some revisions to the text, the Sanskrit Bible remains as a purely academic endeavour and is no longer in active circulation. There were hardly any major revisions to those translations, and physical copies of the original volumes are today available only in the archives of a few Western libraries. The Krishnapuram Palace in Kerala is also reported^{[by whom?]} to be in possession of a copy of the Sanskrit Bible.^{[citation needed]}

The Bible Society of India still publishes a version of the New Testament in Sanskrit. The digitised copies of the Sanskrit Bible (both the New Testament and the four volumes of the Old Testament) are available at archive.org^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]}

Online version

With the objective of reviewing the Sanskrit Bible and making it freely available online: SanskritBible.in.

The project relies on volunteers to encode the Sanskrit text into Devanagari script based on the digitized copies of the Sanskrit Bible published by the Calcutta Baptist Missionaries. The site has also stated the revision of the Sanskrit Bible texts as one of its objectives. The transcription of the New Testament is currently^[when?] being undertaken.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. "सत्यवेदः। Sanskrit Bible - Study Mode". sanskritbible.in. Archived from the original on 2020-02-20. Retrieved 2016-11-09.
2. "New Testament of Bible in Sanskrit" – via Internet Archive.
3. "Dharmmapustakasya sesamsah : arthatah Prabhuna Yisukhristena nirupitasya Nutandharmmaniyamastu granthasangrahah". Kalikatanagare : Kalikata-Sahakarina Vritisapharendharmmasamajena. March 9, 1922 – via Internet Archive.
4. "The Holy bible in the Sanscrit language ." Calcutta : [Calcutta Baptist Missionaries]. March 9, 1848 – via Internet Archive.
5. Wenger, John; Yates, William (March 9, 1848). "The Holy Bible in the Sanscrit Language". Calcutta, Printed at the Baptist mission press – via Internet Archive.
6. Wenger, John; Yates, William (March 9, 1848). "The Holy bible in the Sanscrit language." Calcutta, Printed at the Baptist mission press – via Internet Archive.
7. Wenger, John; Yates, William (March 9, 1848). "The Holy bible in the Sanscrit language." Calcutta, Printed at the Baptist mission press – via Internet Archive.