Translating the Truth of Truths

Abstract

Abstract This introduction presents the following three chapters, which deal with three interconnected works belonging to the textual tradition of the Sanskrit allegorical drama Prabodhacandrodaya by Kr̥ṣṇamiśra (11th century). Each of these three chapters focuses on a translation of the text, namely the Brajbhāṣā version of Nanddās (1570), which may have been the intermediary between the Sanskrit matrix and the Persian translation Gulzār-i ḥāl (1662-3) by the poet Balīrām, and another version in Brajbhāṣā by Brajvāsīdās (1760), itself based on the Persian text. Considering each text independently, the chapters will highlight some variations in the evolution of the story, adapting to different historical, religious and cultural contexts. In parallel, a joint analysis of these works in their mutual connections and in relation to their matrix raises questions about the dynamics of circulation of ideas and texts in early modern Indian intellectual history.