English Translations

[theravada_guy]

Does anyone think some publishing company will ever take on the task of translating and publishing the entire Tipitaka along with its commentaries and sub-commentaries in English? I'd really like to see this happen, especially if they make the volumes available individually. It's not out of the question considering ArtScroll has translated the entire Mishnah and Babylonian Talmud into English, along with many other traditional rabbinic works having been translated from different companies.

[chownah]

Do you differentiate between "publishing" and "translating"?
chownah

[theravada_guy]

Well, let me put it this way. I believe both are possible. Or, I assume it would be considering the Mishnah, Talmuds (both Jerusalem and Babylonian), Midrash, commentaries on Torah/Tanach (Jewish Bible), etc. were all translated from the original Hebrew into various languages and subsequently published and are all available in full sets or individual volumes. Maybe I'm wrong on the Tipitaka and its related texts? Is there something I'm missing?

[David N. Snyder]

http://www.palitext.com/

PTS has virtually the entire Tipitaka translated to English.

And then if you click on 'The Commentaries' over to the left on their website you will see they have many Commentaries translated too, although not nearly as complete as they have done with the Tipitaka.

[theravada_guy]

Thank you, David. Do you know if they have plans on completing everything?

[David N. Snyder]

Thank you, David. Do you know if they have plans on completing everything?

I don't know, but I imagine it is a work in progress as they find Pali scholars who have the time and energy for such a project.

I have their complete set of the Tipitaka and it is very good, but I am waiting for Bhikkhu Bodhi's Anguttara Nikaya translation like everyone else to see the differences / improvements to the translation. I only have a couple of the books of the Commentaries in English from PTS, which are also good.

[Buckwheat]

Have you run out of material? It seems sooo much is already available, I don't even have a long term desire to read it all. If you have, then hat's off, brother!

[theravada_guy]

Buckwheat,

No, I haven't run out of material, far from it. I just was wondering because I thought maybe it could of benefit to people (including myself, someday) that read English better than other languages. What sparked the interest in this was a program I have of the Tipitaka all in romanized script, along with the commentaries. It just sounded like a good idea, basically.

[Buckwheat]

More = Better Just having fun. It is a good idea, but somebody asked Thanissaro Bhikku if Access to Insight was going to finish translating the Canon anytime soon. He kind of chuckled and basically said don't hold your breath. There are other sources, so maybe it could happen if a publisher was really motivated. If you find that publisher, post a mailing address on the Forum and maybe we can flood their inbox with letters to encourage the process along.