They are fine, yet I find they are quite distorted. They are bereft of their sweetness and importance when put in Mr. Dastur's language. However simple your own original style may be, however faulty from a grammatical point of view, it has that sweetness and significance which this "polished" version does not.
I have read and studied the scriptures very deeply and hence I can make out what you mean to say behind these words. But the language in which they are presented to people is quite erroneous and conveys quite another sense from the original. It is due to the editor's desire to give it a garb of flowery language and make it more impressive. On the contrary, it quite alters the sense and murders the spirit behind it.
So, to beautify the language by doing away with your original terms and expressions and polishing them, has taken the taste out of it. The words have lost their beauty. The words of saints and Masters require no gilding or garb of academic expression and embellishment. Their beauty is in their simplicity. They have a deeper inner meaning.
The name of Omar Khayyam has become immortal due to the translations of his Persian Rubaiyat into Western languages. Pure gold is gold, and impure is adulterated! Where is the need for embellishment of words that have come out of the mouth of a Dnyani [Knower, Seer] like you!
Therefore, these messages should also be put in simple language, as the meaning contained in such short, pithy sayings can only be understood and appreciated if your originality is maintained. The originality turns into imitation and the worth is valueless if the language is polished. It really would be better if you write them either in Persian or Gujarati.
Looking at Chanji, who was interpreting Baba's alphabet board during the exchange, Gandhi said:1
Write to Mr. Dastur — write him from me — and tell him to pay less attention to the construction of language while publishing Baba Saheb's discourses, sayings and messages. Also, tell him to pay more attention to maintaining the original terms and words than to the beauty and grammar of the language. What necessity is there in polishing these things? To do so is an injustice to such excellent writings. If Dastur accepts what I say, then he should publish a footnote in the magazine each time he alters Baba's writings.
Footnotes
- 1.Chanji was Baba's secretary at this time and would keep copies of Baba's letters, as well as his own diaries in English, Persian and Gujarati. It is due to his efforts that we have a record of these conversations between Meher Baba and Mahatma Gandhi.