2018, Vol. 4, Issue 1, Part B

author(s)
Sarma N Gullapalli

abstract
Unnoticed by scholars to this day, the beauty, clarity and accuracy of Samskrtam (संस्कृतम्) and Hindu Scriptures have been greatly diminished by mistranslations that persist in all Samskrtam to English (also to French, German, etc) dictionaries to this day, such as dasa (दास) as also “slave” (in addition to correct translation “servant”) and arya (आर्य) as also “Aryan race” (in addition to correct translation “honorable”), originated by early European scholars who were the first to translate Hindu scriptures from Samskrtam into European languages during late 18^th century and 19^th century, with the good intention of making the treasures of Hindu scriptures available to the western world, but unfortunately tainted by their own newly invented erroneous theory of a superior fair skinned “Aryan race” that invaded or migrated to ancient India bringing with them the Vedic knowledge and enslaved dark skinned inferior natives. These mistranslations also create a false perception that Hindu scriptures are confusing and contradictory. While Indologists and anthropologists have debated at length (mainly in English and other European languages), often contentiously, whether the “Vedic Aryans” were indigenous to India or came from outside in ancient times, they all, guided by the dictionary translations, seem to have assumed that आर्य also means race, and that दास also means slave, without questioning the translation itself. Some anthropologists today have rejected the “Aryan race” theory, but it is persisting in Samskrtam dictionaries and hence in translations.