Note on Translation and Transliteration
I have aimed to provide translations that maintain some of the distinctive flavour and rhythm of the Hindi (Braj Bhasha) literature under consideration, while also trying to appeal to contemporary English-reading audiences who may or may not have familiarity with the devotional world of Pushtimargi Hinduism. This means that at times I omit redundancies in my translations by paraphrasing or by including only select portions of the original text. I frequently simplify or alter names and titles for the reader’s clarity. On occasion I also offer modest embellishments for clarification. These translations are therefore meant to carry the mood of the originals more than they are meant to be precise or literal. I have omitted diacritics on Indian-language terms, which appear in italics (except in the case of proper names, or words that have been absorbed into English). When discussing Sanskrit sources and terms therein, I have followed the conventions of contemporary Sanskritists by including the inherent ‘a’ vowel (e.g., purana rather than puran). In the context of discussing Hindi literature and terms therein, I generally omit the inherent ‘a’ vowel (e.g., Braj rather than Braja; laukik rather than laukika), but override this rule when such an omission may be awkward or confusing for the reader (e.g., I write maharajas rather than maharajs). Diacritics will, however, appear on transliterated text names originally composed in Hindi that are listed in the Bibliography.
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