Instructing the Vernacular Mind Through Song: Bhaktivinoda’s Bengali Transcreation of Sanskrit Stotra

David Buchta

Instructing the Vernacular Mind Through Song: Bhaktivinoda’s Bengali Transcreation of Sanskrit Stotra

Authors

David Buchta

Keywords:

transcreation, Manaḥ-śikṣā, vernacular theology, Bengali bhakti poetry, devotional pedagogy

Abstract

The article Instructing the Vernacular Mind Through Song by David Buchta explores Bhaktivinoda’s Bengali rendering of Manaḥ-śikṣā, originally written by Raghunātha Dāsa Goswāmī. Rather than a direct translation, Bhaktivinoda offered a poetic transcreation, adapting esoteric theology for vernacular audiences through culturally resonant and devotional language.