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 text is trying to convey must have not only the two visible strands of language expertise and cultural understanding but also the hidden third strand of Shraddhaa! Without this, the braid will fall apart and never have the binding needed! 

Like the triveni sangam of the two visible rivers of Ganga and Yamuna, the third Saraswati is what provides the true ज्ञान/knowledge enabling one to know instinctively what the true "meaning" is! That Saraswati can only flow when there a path laid by the Shraddhaa of the reader or seeker. That is why Shri Krishna says "श्रद्धावान लभते ज्ञानम्", Only the one who has Shraddhaa will be the receiver of the knowledge. 

Shraddhaa is the magic that makes one a "seer", someone who can see the truth. In one of the Harry Potter books, the Hogwarts castle is described as something that can only be seen by one who has magic in their blood. So while a Muggle sees old, dead, abandoned ruins, a person with magic in their blood sees a magnificent, living, castle bustling with life very much in use as a great school that imparts the teachings to make great magicians! This to me is quite similar to the readers of the Hindu scriptures, which when read without the magic of Shraddhaa appear to be old, dead, irrelevant things only to be studied as an autopsy. But to one who has this Shraddhaa, these texts are magnificent, living entities, who are teachers par excellence capable of turning anyone into a seer! 

The braid of translation unravels even when the translator has thorough knowledge of Sanskrit and is born and raised in the Bharatiya culture if that person lacks Shraddhaa. In fact this third strand of Shraddhaa is so strong that it can create the braid even when the other two strands of language and cultural knowledge are weaker.

This is the "magic" of श्रद्धा/Shraddhaa!