I have just published the first volume of the Jātaka Verses and their Word Commentaries (Ja 1-150) which comprise a new translation of the verses themselves, together with a translation of their word commentaries, which were omitted from the Cowell-led translation which I revised last year.
Although the Cowell translation was a formidable work, especially for the time it was done (late 19th c.), it didn’t translate around 20% of the commentary, which was dedicated to explaining the words used in the verses. This new, and therefore first, translation of that material fills that gap.
But in doing so it also gives a new and more accurate translation of the verses themselves, which in the Cowell translation were often more like paraphrases, mainly made in a doggeral type of translation. The new translation echoes the Pāḷi lines in being metrical, but is decidedly more accurate.
There are two versions of the new work, the main one is the Text and Translation which gives the full text and a line by line interlinear translation of the whole of this part of the text. The second is a slightly shortened English version, which has less annotation, and with regards to the Pāḷi only reproduces the verse.
The volume is, as always, made available in various formats, including online html and also pdf, epub and mobi versions. The complete translation will span the first 500 verses and their translations, which will take up three volumes in all. I am presently working on the corrections to the second volume, and the third volume is out for review, and I hope to complete this publication by the end of the year.
