Q:

Lost in mistranslation?

There are words in some languages which are difficult to translate to other languages like gestalt in German.
There are words which get lost in translation without sufficient context.
It is possible that words from Hindu scriptures written in Sanskrit got mistranslated to English.
The word 'brahmacarya' got translated as celibacy.  But it literally means 'to dwell on the divine'.  The word 'varna' got translated as 'caste' - which has racial connotations -  when it should have been 'class' or 'group'.
What is worse is that most Hindus learned from the incorrect translations to the extent that today even Hindus have misconceptions about what they are.  I believe that a lot of misconceptions about Hinduism stems from these incorrect translations.
What according to you would be a significant mistranslated word/concept?  A mistranslation that has caused the most damage or misconception to Hinduism.

A:

There are tons of words which got corrupted in translation into English. This is especially important because it were British who first tried to translate Hindu scriptures into current languages and helped in the wider recognition. I'll list a few notable ones which I remember -

Brahman : The most best way to describe Brahman in English is God, but it fails miserably because of the different concept of God in West and Hinduism. Brahman is not a scornful, judgmental father sitting atop cloud. Rather Brahman is a all-pervasive entity, more of whom you can read at wiki. In Hinduism, the pronoun for Brahman is 'tat' which is 'it' in English not 'he'.
Karma : In Hindu scripture Karma is a very complex word with hidden connotations and meaning which means 'ones deeds' in short. In popular culture, the meaning has degraded to such an extent that even 'Karma is a bitch' is a valid sentence.
Dharma : From scripture, it means 'ones duty', it has no relation to religion or tradition. A sample sentence would be, The Dharma of Sun is to glow and radiate light. But the mistranslation into Hindi and other language lead it to mean something related to religion.
Tantra : From a western connotation, Tantra mean Sex. There's no ifs and buts to it. But scriptures tell you a different story. Tantra essentially mean awakening of Kundalini with sexual energy, which is considered of highest potency.
Kama : Popular connotation is Sex, but the actual meaning of Kama is desire. So, Kamadeva is not the eastern equivalent Cupid, rather the reign of Kamadeva is much more broad.

I'll add to this list as I find more such words..

