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IntroductionTranslation and the Indian Tradition:Some Illustrations, Some InsightsAbstractPriyadarshi PatnaikIn the context of the spotlight on translation in the postcolonialcontext, it is interesting to note that in the Indiantradition there are many instances of what can be termed‘translations’ since very early times, yet there is hardly anytheorizing in our tradition about them. The paper focusses onone instance of such an activity. Around 16 th century AD poetJagannatha Dasa of Orissa wrote an Oriya Bhagabat whichhas virtually the exact chapter and canto arrangement as thatof the Sanskrit Bhagabat. Yet there are variations here andthere which are insightful. Similar is the case with the versesand the narratives which follow the Sanskrit Bhagabatsystematically at many places and deviate at others. A closelook at and comparison of the two texts leads to interestingobservations. The paper uses a short extract each from the twoworks (Sanskrit Bhagabat with English translation, OriyaBhagabat with my translation into English) to drawcomparisons and to analyse some finer points of Indiantranslation in the pre-colonial days.At first glance, Indian tradition has nothing to say abouttranslation. For that matter, there is hardly any theorizing anywherein the Sanskrit scholastic or literary tradition about the translation oftexts. Was it because there was no translation of texts in thistradition?Translation Today Vol. 3 Nos. 1 & 2, 2006 © CIIL 2006