Fairly straightforward to navigate, although the urls are not meaningful. It’s all in Unicode, which is great. And the search feature works well, although I have only tried looking up titles. Of course it is done in Sinhala letters.
Translator is Ven. Kiribathgoda Gnanananda Thero. Publisher is Mahamegha. They also have print editions, but they are fairly large format. Whole thing is about 24 volumes.
Can I ask a couple of questions of our Sinhala speakers?
What’s your impression of the translations? Ven Gnanananda has an excellent knowledge of Pali, and equally impressive ability to express himself in Sinhala, so I would expect that they are fluent and readable. But I’m not sure how much effort was put into consistency.
What texts exactly are translated here?
Is there any copyright information?
It looks like the text is Pali and Sinhala, is that right?
If a discourse or discourse is published in a social networking site or on a social networking site, it is compulsory to include the url of the web site where the sermon is mentioned, in the relevant website or social network. Also you can print a lecture as a Dharmadasa and distribute it free of charge - sutta.mahamevnawa.lk website.
I believe it means you can print a sutta as Dhammadana.
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I think this is a great achievement by Ven. Gnanananda. I have difficulty in reading many Sinhalese translations so I am looking forward to read this. It could be great if we can incorporate this translations in SC website.
But it is not without critics. I am not aware of the exact nature of those criticisms.
What is important to evaluate is whether there are any fundamental errors in relation to the translation.
I will use this forum to report any major fundamental errors if I find any.
But then they identify with extinguishment, they identify regarding extinguishment, they identify as extinguishment, they identify that ‘extinguishment is mine’, they take pleasure in extinguishment.
nibbānaṃ nibbānato saññatvā nibbānaṃ maññati, nibbānasmiṃ maññati, nibbānato maññati, nibbānaṃ meti maññati, nibbānaṃ abhinandati.
Assuming Bhante Sujato’s translation is correct, Ven. N’s translation is incorrect. Perhaps this is not a translation error but an error of understanding.
However I am not quick to throw the baby with bad water.
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Now compare this with Bhikkhu Bodhi.
“He perceives Nibbāna as Nibbāna. Having perceived Nibbāna as Nibbāna, he conceives himself as Nibbāna, he conceives himself in Nibbāna, he conceives himself apart from Nibbāna, he conceives Nibbāna to be ‘mine,’ he delights in Nibbāna.
For me it is not the quantity but the quality.
As I said it is not a bad translation. But I am looking for critical aspect of the translation. My approach is no different to any translator if you read my previous posts.
It is also important to understand that I am not here to defend any not even the Tipitaka. I am here to learn and understand the truth.
As I mentioned before the translation is a daunting task and Ven. N has done a wonderful job. He should be open to the criticism and correct if there are any mistakes.
Perhaps we should invite him to this forum.
Please keep in mind that most people on here do not speak Sinhala, so if you are going to critique, please explain what the problem is with the translation. I think it will make for a more interesting discussion. And I am eager to hear what you have to say.
Oh, yes. Google translating Sinhala only works on very literal, modern things, like the copyright notices I shared above. For suttas, Google spits out something verging on obscene.
The translation did, however, give some hint, because it mentioned the “soul”. While the sutta just says “nibbana”, the commentary explains it as meaning the idea that the self is nibbana. I suspect perhaps the Ven was translating according to the commentary.
No, please Bhante, please do not use Google translate for this kind of investigation. It really is not suitable for Dhamma texts and I am afraid it will muddle this discussion.
If you are going to use it, please post exactly the Sinhala you put in and what google spits out. Starting to make conjectures about this Sinhala translation based on Google translate is very dicey.
We can certainly have a discussion about how bad Google translate is for Sinhala Dhamma texts, but that should be a separate thread from this so the discussion doesn’t get confusing.
To be honest, I wouldn’t bother. It’s unlikely we’ll get a response, and in any case, I want the focus going forward to be on new segmented translations.
Agree.
I just checked Bhante Sujato’s translation with Bhikkhu Bodi and found they are apart as well.
B @sujato : they identify as extinguishment
B. Bodhi: he conceives himself apart from Nibbāna
