[INDOLOGY] My Sanskrit rendering of Goethe's poem on Shakuntala

Madhav Deshpande mmdesh at umich.edu
Wed Jun 14 13:34:52 UTC 2017


Thanks, Antonia, for that reference.  During my undergraduate days in
Fergusson College in Pune, I was studying German along with Sanskrit.
There was a celebration of 50 years of German teaching in Pune, and we
performed the 4th act of Śākuntalam on stage in German.  I acted as
Śārṅgarava and my Sanskrit teacher Pt. N. N. Bhide (who also knew German)
played the role of Kaṇva.  It was sometime around this occasion that I
translated Goethe's poem into Sanskrit.

Madhav Deshpande
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

On Wed, Jun 14, 2017 at 9:20 AM, Antonia Ruppel <rhododaktylos at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Dear Madhav,
>
> As someone who has long loved Goethe's poem, let me say: thank you! This
> is beautiful. -- And just in case anyone ever asks about its source: it
> took me a while to find it, but it comes from a letter to F. H. Jacobi
> dated July 1, 1791, thus quoted in the Jubiläumsausgabe von Goethes Werken,
> I.258. (Apologies if you already knew that.)
>
> Thanks again and all best,
>     Antonia
>
> 2017-06-14 14:02 GMT+01:00 Madhav Deshpande via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info>:
>
>> Going through old papers, I found my Sanskrit rendering of Goethe's
>> German poem on Shakuntala.  This was done sometime during my Fergusson
>> College days in Pune.
>>
>> *GOETHE’S POEM ON SHAKUNTALA*
>>
>>
>>
>> Willst du die Blüthe des frühen, die Früchte des späteren Jahres,
>>
>> Willst du, was reizt und entzückt, willst du was sättigt und nährt,
>>
>> Willst du den Himmel, die Erde, mit Einem Namen begreifen;
>>
>> Nenn’ ich, Sakuntala, Dich, und so ist Alles gesagt.
>>
>>
>>
>> *English Translation*
>>
>> Wouldst thou the young year's blossoms and the fruits of its decline
>>
>> And all by which the soul is charmed, enraptured, feasted, fed,
>>
>> Wouldst thou the earth and heaven itself in one sole name combine?
>>
>> I name thee, O Sakuntala! and all at once is said.
>>
>> —*translation by Edward Backhouse Eastwick*
>>
>>
>>
>> *संस्कृतानुवाद**:*
>>
>> स्पृहयसि वसन्तकुसुमेभ्यो यदि
>>
>> ग्रीष्मे यदि फलराशीनिच्छसि ।
>>
>> कान्तं पुष्टिकरं तुष्टिकरम्
>>
>> सन्तर्पणमात्मनो यदीच्छसि ।
>>
>> शब्दैक्ये यदि कर्तुम् ग्रहणम्
>>
>> वसुन्धरास्वर्गयोरीप्सितम् ।
>>
>> त्वामभिदधामि हे शाकुन्तल
>>
>> सपदि सकलमेकपदे प्रोक्तम् ॥
>>
>> Madhav Deshpande
>> Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
>>
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>
>
>
> --
>  ANTONIA RUPPEL
>  s a p e r e   a u d e
>


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