Oscar Pujol receives award for Sanskrit-Spanish translations at JLF

Jaipur: Author and translator Oscar Pujol received the ‘Vani Foundation Distinguished Translator Award’ at the Jaipur Literature Festival here for establishing a closer relationship between Sanskrit and Spanish through his translations.

Pujol received a citation, a memento and an amount of Rs 1 lakh on Sunday for the award that recognises contributions to building linguistic bridge between at least two Indian or international languages.

Pujol holds a doctorate in Sanskrit from Banaras Hindu University and has had a lifelong association with India. He has previously held the post of director at the Cervantes Institute of New Delhi and Rio de Janeiro and was the the director of Educational Programs of Casa Asia. He is the author and translator of several books.

According to a JLF statement, Pujol was honoured with the eight ‘Vani Foundation Distinguished Translator Award’ at the 17th edition of the literature festival here on Sunday.

The books authored by Pujol include the first dictionary of Sanskrit to Catalan, a dictionary of Sanskrit to Spanish and a book on Shankaracharya's philosophy and scriptures in Spanish. His latest translation of the Bhagavad Gita from Sanskrit to Spanish has been published under the name 'La Bhagavad Gita', the statement said.

Pujol can be defined as a 'karmayogi' and a 'language lover' for his dedication towards the Sanskrit language, it said.

The award was presented to Pujol by Vani Prakashan Books and Teamwork Arts.

The jury that selected Pujol for the award included JLF co-director and Sahitya Akademi awardee Namita Gokhale, renowned translator Arunav Sinha and poet, music and cinema scholar and autobiographer Yatindra Mishra.

'Vani Foundation Distinguished Translator Award' is given every year to a translator who has contributed to building a linguistic bridge between at least two Indian or international languages through sustained and high-quality translation work.

Before Pujol, the award has been given to Daisy Rockwell (2022-2023: Hindi-English), Arunav Sinha (2021-2022: Bengali), Rakhshanda Jalil (2019-2020: Urdu) and Teji Grover (2018-2019: Hindi). In 2016, the first 'Vani Foundation Distinguished Translator Award' was presented to Malayalam poet Attur Ravi Varma.