Pali to English translation issue

[Saimjn]

The sutta translation efforts are worthy of praise indeed. However, whenever I read the English translation, I felt the translation has been too simplified and lose the essence of Pali. For simple example, the word ‘mudu’in karaniyametta sutta has been translated as mild. This is one of the qualities that the Buddha recommended for one who aspires for enlightenment. Mudu refers to deeer meaning than mild. Mudu has one meaning softness in speech and action where person takes the consequences into consideration. Simple word mild does not seem to do justice to this Pali term. This is only one example. I found many in various sutta translation where too simple meaning could misguide the readers. Is it possible to take this into consideration when translating Pali into English?

[Gabriel_L]

Hi @Saimjh , welcome to SuttaCentral’s Discuss & Discover!

I assume your comments relate to a translation by bhante @sujato, hence I am tagging his username here to comment.

Also, if possible, could you provide a reference to which exact translation you found this pali term translated this way?

I recall reading somewhere here some sort of essay by bhante @sujato in which he presents his reasons and rationale for his translation style. I am not sure if this is what I have in mind but the topics below may shed some light on what he had in mind when working on his translations:

Testing readability of sutta translations

How important is readability? A simpler text will be more widely read and better comprehended. Here are two classic studies, quoted from Wikipedia. In 1947, Donald Murphy of Wallace’s Farmer used a split-run edition to study the effects of making text easier to read. They found that reducing from the 9th to the 6th-grade level increased readership 43% for an article on ‘nylon’. There was a gain of 42,000 readers in a circulation of 275,000. He found a 60% increase in readership for an article …

Why SuttaCentral doesn’t have footnotes

Note: I wrote this some time ago as part of another discussion. It’s a question that comes up from time to time, so I thought I’d make it more visible by making it it’s own thread. I have made a few changes to the original. In the original discussion, Ven Brahmali recommended adding footnotes to my translation, arguing that: Good. A translator’s work should be invisible. One of the biggest problems with footnotes is that you end up listening to the translator’s voice instead of the Buddha’s. …

You may also want to check this link, from the main website:

https://suttacentral.net/discourses#item8

Note as well, for some texts you have more than one translation available. Maybe an alternative version may suit your expectations better?