Josephine Acosta Pasricha (born March 26, 1945) is a Filipino

indologist Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') i ...

who translated the "Ramacharitamanasa" of Tulasi Dasa, the

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

translation of the

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages ...

by Valmiki in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

, into the

Filipino language Filipino (; , ) is an Austronesian language. It is the national language ( / ) of the Philippines, and one of the two official languages of the country, with English. It is a standardized variety of Tagalog based on the native dialect, spok ...

. Pasricha herself was mentored by Filipino indologist Juan R. Francisco. She made a complete unpublished Filipino translation of the seven books of the "Ramacharitamanasa" of Tulasi Dasa, accompanied with contextual, intertextual and textual analysis, and cross-references with

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

translations. An expert in the

and the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the K ...

, she is also a

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

research scholar to the

University of Delhi Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE ...

. She is currently teaching

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at t ...

in the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (also known as UST and officially as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila) is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Migue ...

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...

. In the undergraduate level, she teaches Art Appreciation,

Aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed t ...

and Hermeneutics. In the graduate level, she teaches Advanced Aesthetics, Advanced Hermeneutics, Cultural Studies, Feminist Philosophy and Theology of the Body. She is one of the editors of the Filipino translation of

Kama Sutra The ''Kama Sutra'' (; sa, कामसूत्र, , ; ) is an ancient Indian Sanskrit text on sexuality, eroticism and emotional fulfillment in life. Attributed to Vātsyāyana, the ''Kama Sutra'' is neither exclusively nor predominantly ...

by Marvin Reyes and Paz Panganiban. The translation is based on the work of Vatsyayana and

Sir Richard Burton Sir Richard Francis Burton (; 19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British explorer, writer, orientalist scholar,and soldier. He was famed for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, as well as his extraordinary kn ...

Personal life

Pasricha is married to an Indian man and has two daughters, Sarina and Satya (also known as Selene). Both daughters were raised in the Philippines and now work in India for a global Indian Informational Technology company.

Works

Author

*''The Theory of the Sublime in the Mahabharata'' * ''Introduction to Art Appreciation'', co-author with Manolita Policarpio and Inez Pascual * ''Introduction to Art Appreciation and Aesthetics'', co-author with Tomas Hernandez

Editor

*''Kama Sutra, a Filipino translation''

References

1945 births Living people Filipino translators Filipino Indologists Hermeneutists Delhi University alumni University of Santo Tomas faculty {{Asia-translator-stub

Personal life

Works

Author

Editor

See also

References