The "magic" of श्रद्धा/Shraddhaa
What is श्रद्धा / Shraddhaa? It is not simply faith as is often translated but it also has an implicit trust built into it. We use it all the time but do not always recognize it. From having Shraddhaa when boarding a flight on the pilots to the flight and ground crew that they know their job and are doing it well to having Shraddhaa in everyday things like taking a class, going to the doctor or dentist etc. When it comes to studying something we must have Shraddhaa on the teacher teaching the subject or else we cannot even begin to start learning! What is required to get the translation of an ancient Hindu Purarana or Itihaas right? There is of course the knowledge of Sanskrit and an understanding of the culture or having some cultural context but there is a third hidden underlying strand that is needed and that is of Shraddhaa. Like a braid where only two strands are seen by the eye but we all know there are three, a good translation that captures the essence of what the author of the