Now Ramayana in Polish

Ramayana, the great Indian epic, is now available in Polish language, courtesy Janusz Krzyzowski, an Indologist in Poland who has translated the monumental work. Though few episodes of Ramayana were translated into Polish in 1816, these were mere translation of western writers. In the 20th century, some attempts were made to translate a few more chapters. It seems Krzyzowski collected the material from dozens of books and presented in a coherent manner so that a reader could sustain his interest while going through different chapters. The original was penned by Maharishi Valmiki in Sanskrit.

‘My main purpose was to translate this epic into many chapters in a story format so that laymen and particularly Polish children could enjoy the book as well as they should be aware of the great Indian mythological tradition. ‘Ramayana and Mahabharata are two great epics which cannot (be) compared with other epics. Even Greek epics come out as pale shadows when we see the canvas of the Indian epics. They are almost unique in the history of mankind,’ Krzyzowski said. The book’s effect was visible when a group presented a two-hour show on the pattern of Ramlila.