Request for a book: Bālāvabodha of Kaśyapa, a 13th-century Sanskrit Grammar (Cāndra School) from Ceylon

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Deepro Chakraborty

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Aug 30, 2019, 5:43:20 PM8/30/19
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Dear List members,

This book was published somewhere in Sri Lanka. But I don't know the publication details. Any information about it would be highly appreciated. 

Sincerely,
Deepro

Irene Galstian

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Aug 31, 2019, 10:02:53 AM8/31/19
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No joy on this yet.
Please could you say how you found out
that a Sri Lankan publication of this work exists?

Irene

Madhav Deshpande

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Aug 31, 2019, 12:06:22 PM8/31/19
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Dear Deepro,

     I don't know about the Bālāvabodha of Kaśyapa, but there is a Pali grammar titled Bālāvatāra, and I have seen a Sri Lankan edition in the past.  Here is the Romanized text of this Pali grammar:


Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies

[Residence: Campbell, California, USA]


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Irene Galstian

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Aug 31, 2019, 12:42:54 PM8/31/19
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Here's the Balavatara file from Prof Deshpande's link.
Balavatara.pdf

Irene Galstian

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Aug 31, 2019, 12:51:03 PM8/31/19
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Belvalkar mentions this grammar here (p.62):


Irene

Deepro Chakraborty

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Aug 31, 2019, 7:24:26 PM8/31/19
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Dear Prof. Deshpande,

Thanks for your reply and the reference. I was actually looking for a Sanskrit grammar from Ceylon. 

Sincerely,
Deepro


On Saturday, August 31, 2019 at 10:06:22 AM UTC-6, Madhav Deshpande wrote:
Dear Deepro,

     I don't know about the Bālāvabodha of Kaśyapa, but there is a Pali grammar titled Bālāvatāra, and I have seen a Sri Lankan edition in the past.  Here is the Romanized text of this Pali grammar:


Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies

[Residence: Campbell, California, USA]


On Fri, Aug 30, 2019 at 2:43 PM Deepro Chakraborty <chakrabo...@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear List members,

This book was published somewhere in Sri Lanka. But I don't know the publication details. Any information about it would be highly appreciated. 

Sincerely,
Deepro

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Deepro Chakraborty

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Aug 31, 2019, 7:28:29 PM8/31/19
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Hello Irene,

Thanks for your reply and the reference. I came to know about the text from Belvalkar's book and then I asked a Sinhalese friend of mine. He told me that he saw a printed version of this work. I requested him as well if he can find a copy.

Sincerely,
Deepro

Madhav Deshpande

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Aug 31, 2019, 7:47:20 PM8/31/19
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Dear Deepro,

     On p. 41 of the attached document you will see some references to a grammar titled Bālāvabodhana by Kashyapa.  Here is a reference to the incomplete publication of this work:  "Kasyapa's Balavabodhana, edited by William Goonetilleke, The Orientalist 1 (1884) 2 (1885)."  You can check for this volume of "The Orientalist."  If you make a copy of this work, send me a pdf.  Best,

Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies

[Residence: Campbell, California, USA]

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Origin and Development of Sanskrit Literature in Sri Lanka.pdf

Irene Galstian

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Sep 1, 2019, 12:04:58 AM9/1/19
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Dear Professor Deshpande,

Thank you, this is obtainable. 
If no existing electronic copy is located by other list members, I can order this. However, the electronic copy should be most easily available from within the US:


Could you please have a look at the above link and see if it allows you to leaf through the journal, while I adjust my proxy settings? 

Best wishes,
Irene

shankara

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Sep 1, 2019, 12:15:44 AM9/1/19
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Irene ji,

The first 3 vols of 'The Orientalist' are in the open domain and are available at Google Books. Links are given below.

The Orientalist

As Prof. Deshpandeji mentioned, the text of Balavabodhana published in 'The Orientalist' is incomplete. It seems there is a complete edition of Balavabodhana. For publication details, please check.

regards
shankara


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Irene Galstian

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Sep 1, 2019, 12:39:03 AM9/1/19
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Shankara ji,

Thank you for that information.
The Orientalist volumes are in the public domain in some countries but not in others. If you have access to the PDFs, please could you download them from your side. 
As for the WorldCat entry, I also saw this about an hour ago and placed an interlibrary loan request for it. This edition is in Sinhalese script too, so, at least to get started, it would be useful to give Deepro Chakraborty both items, if possible.

Best wishes,
Irene

shankara

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Sep 1, 2019, 1:01:57 AM9/1/19
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Irene ji,

Thanks. I hadn't thought of it.
Google drive link to back issues of the Orientalist journal.

regards
shankara


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Irene Galstian

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Sep 1, 2019, 1:21:52 AM9/1/19
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Shankara ji,

Big, big thanks. Now no need to fiddle with the VPN.
I'll report back once there is progress on the book. 
One question, please. The matter of Sanskrit works in Sinhalese script arose previously, and there was a procedure to turn it into transliteration, if not into Devanagari.
The first step was to use Google or that guy's OCR app (I don't recall his name now, sorry, it's been a while, and this issue doesn't come up often). 
And then someone linked to a site that generates the translit. Do you by any chance recall this site? My thinking is that, since this work is judged as significant by Belvalkar, then removing the obstacle of Sinhalese script could be an advantage, so more people could read the treatise. What do you think?

Best wishes,
Irene

shankara

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Sep 1, 2019, 1:45:37 AM9/1/19
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Irene ji,

Sanskrit OCR website is http://ocr.sanskritdictionary.com/

But it may not work for Sinhalese script. I feel Google OCR might be suitable for this purpose. Proof-reading the OCR text would not be easy, unless one knows the Sinhalese script. It would be ideal to wait till some such person volunteers to participate in the work.

regards
shankara


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Irene Galstian

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Sep 1, 2019, 2:20:19 AM9/1/19
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Shankara ji,

True, very true. I can read the script but slowly.
The site for translit didn’t work, but there was a link to
the coder’s github space, where I found a piece of
Python code that did work. That’s really what I want to find, that Python code.
Perhaps Prof Deshpande could view the PDFs and advise
whether it’s worth making this work more easily available.

Best wishes,
Irene

Madhav Deshpande

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Sep 1, 2019, 9:15:51 AM9/1/19
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Dear Irene,

     If you have the text in Singhalese script, I can give it a try.  A few decades ago, I had trained myself to read Pali texts printed in Singhalese, Burmese and Thai scripts, but I have not done it lately.

Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies

[Residence: Campbell, California, USA]

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Irene Galstian

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Sep 1, 2019, 11:13:08 AM9/1/19
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Dear Professor Deshpande,

Thank you for agreeing to help, this is most valuable. I'll send you the link of the scan once the book gets here. 
If you decide that the work is interesting, we'll find a way of obtaining the transliteration and/or Devanagari by software means.

Best wishes,
Irene

vishal jaiswal

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Sep 2, 2019, 3:03:34 AM9/2/19
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Namaste Shankaraji, 
Any tips on clicking a good quality pic with a basic cell phone which can result in higher ocr accuracy on the site you shared ?

Thanks,
Vishal


On Sunday, September 1, 2019, 'shankara' via भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत् <bvpar...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
Irene ji,

Sanskrit OCR website is http://ocr.sanskritdictionary.com/

But it may not work for Sinhalese script. I feel Google OCR might be suitable for this purpose. Proof-reading the OCR text would not be easy, unless one knows the Sinhalese script. It would be ideal to wait till some such person volunteers to participate in the work.

regards
shankara


On Sunday, 1 September, 2019, 10:51:57 am IST, Irene Galstian <gnos...@gmail.com> wrote:


Shankara ji,

Big, big thanks. Now no need to fiddle with the VPN.
I'll report back once there is progress on the book. 
One question, please. The matter of Sanskrit works in Sinhalese script arose previously, and there was a procedure to turn it into transliteration, if not into Devanagari.
The first step was to use Google or that guy's OCR app (I don't recall his name now, sorry, it's been a while, and this issue doesn't come up often). 
And then someone linked to a site that generates the translit. Do you by any chance recall this site? My thinking is that, since this work is judged as significant by Belvalkar, then removing the obstacle of Sinhalese script could be an advantage, so more people could read the treatise. What do you think?

Best wishes,
Irene

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shankara

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Sep 2, 2019, 3:08:09 AM9/2/19
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Vishalji,

I have not used cell phone cam scanning books. Other members of BVP who use cell phones for scanning may share might their experience.

regards
shankara


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shankara

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Sep 2, 2019, 3:13:41 AM9/2/19
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Vishalji,

You might find useful the following webpage at Abby Technology Portal, that explains the image quality required for good OCR output. 


regards
shankara


On Monday, 2 September, 2019, 12:33:37 pm IST, vishal jaiswal <tovisha...@gmail.com> wrote:


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vishal jaiswal

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Sep 2, 2019, 3:39:50 AM9/2/19
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Dhanyavaadah Shankaraji, I will check that page.
By the way, though the ocr site you shared works fine even for Hindi or English text, do you recommend any other ocr site specifically for English or Hindi ?

Regards,
Vishal

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shankara

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Sep 2, 2019, 3:44:41 AM9/2/19
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Vishalji,

Google Drive also can be used for OCR of Indian languages.

Advantage with Google Drive is that we can convert 5 to 10 pages at a time, while other sites like https://www.newocr.com and http://ocr.sanskritdictionary.com/ convert one page at a time.

regards
shankara


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vishal jaiswal

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Sep 2, 2019, 5:10:26 AM9/2/19
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Shankaraji, google drive ocr only works via the desktop, not cell phone. I don't know whether that is an oversight on their part 
Vishal
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Deepro Chakraborty

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Sep 2, 2019, 10:06:08 PM9/2/19
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Dear Prof. Deshpande, Irene and Shankara Ji,

I am very grateful to you for the information you shared. I required just the beginning of the text which I found from the link (page: 69) that Shankara ji shared. 

Thanking you,
Deepro

vishal jaiswal

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Sep 2, 2019, 11:44:57 PM9/2/19
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Shankaraji, another question,
is there a way to extract the image of original quality from a PDF assuming that the PDF is made up of a collection of image pages. 
So that the ocr is more accurate.

Regards,
Vishal

shankara

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Sep 2, 2019, 11:55:55 PM9/2/19
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Vishalji,

Adobe Acrobat Pro allows us to save the pages from a PDF into images without loss of data. If the original scan resolution is at least 300 dpi, the PDF itself can be used for OCR. No need to convert it into images.

regards
shankara


On Tuesday, 3 September, 2019, 9:14:58 am IST, vishal jaiswal <tovisha...@gmail.com> wrote:


Shankaraji, another question,
is there a way to extract the image of original quality from a PDF assuming that the PDF is made up of a collection of image pages. 
So that the ocr is more accurate.

Regards,
Vishal

On Monday, September 2, 2019, vishal jaiswal <tovisha...@gmail.com> wrote:
Shankaraji, google drive ocr only works via the desktop, not cell phone. I don't know whether that is an oversight on their part 
Vishal


On Monday, September 2, 2019, 'shankara' via भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत् <bvpar...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
Vishalji,

Google Drive also can be used for OCR of Indian languages.

Advantage with Google Drive is that we can convert 5 to 10 pages at a time, while other sites like https://www.newocr.com and http://ocr.sanskritdictionary. com/ convert one page at a time.

regards
shankara


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vishal jaiswal

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Sep 3, 2019, 12:16:34 PM9/3/19
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Dhanyavaadah for the suggestions, Shankaraji.
I don't have acrobat pro. If you do, can I ask you if such a need arises where the usual alternatives don't suffice.
The reasoning behind this is that I would like to read the most important writings on eink display which is least tiring for the eyes. And ocr'ed text is far better than images.

Regards,
Vishal
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shankara

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Sep 3, 2019, 12:32:04 PM9/3/19
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Vishalji,

Adobe Acrobat Pro is only one such tool. There may be several such tools that extract image from PDF. If you do a simple Google search, you will find several such softwares and online tools.

BTW, after converting the image to text, it needs to be proof-read. It is a strenuous job that requires immense care and command over the language.

regards
shankara


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vishal jaiswal

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Sep 3, 2019, 1:07:25 PM9/3/19
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Agreed Shankaraji, after all there are just 24 hours in a day :)
I tried a couple of online tools, but the extracted image was of poorer quality.
I will cross that bridge when the time comes.
Thanks again for all your advice !
Vishal
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vishal jaiswal

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Sep 3, 2019, 1:27:17 PM9/3/19
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Shankaraji, can you please email me off the list.
Would like to talk on some things regarding searching for books.
Vishal

Deepro Chakraborty

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Sep 7, 2019, 1:55:44 AM9/7/19
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A friend of mine from Sri Lanka shared this information about the publication 

69601452_2376373806014426_6785122800882417664_n.jpg

69766392_358157408423965_4743755515455078400_n.jpg



Irene Galstian

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Sep 7, 2019, 4:31:37 AM9/7/19
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I’ve requested the book via interlibrary loans a few days ago. Will update once things start happening.

Irene

Deepro Chakraborty

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Sep 8, 2019, 11:38:21 PM9/8/19
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Thank you very much!

On Sat, Sep 7, 2019 at 2:31 AM Irene Galstian <gnos...@gmail.com> wrote:
I’ve requested the book via interlibrary loans a few days ago. Will update once things start happening.

Irene

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