Lost in the translation

Episode 2. Recalling the battle with previous God of War. 

Dongfang Qingcang:

- I have the soul of King Kong. I am immortal. The Supreme Lord of the three realms.

Omg I had no idea it would be that interesting! Even the claws make sense. But first things first.

Small disclaimer: my knowledge about buddhism, hinduism is zero.

本座有金刚魂魄乃不死之身 – is what he said. 本座 – I; 有 – have; 魂魄 – soul; 乃 – to be, hence; 不死之身 - unkillable

金刚 – which can be translated as King Kong, yes, (and if you’ll look for the movie in chinese that’s how it would be written); yet it has another meanings: diamond, giant, Buddha’s warrior attendant [according to Baidu dictionary]; Google translator can also translate it just as “vajra” or “vajra soul” (but most of the time it shows just “king kong”). So we can have a Budda’s warrior protector who wields vajra.

Now’s the best:

What is vajra? Literally “thunderbolt” a legendary and ritual weapon, symbolising the properties of a diamond (indestructibility) and a thunderbolt (irresistible force) [feeling home now?;)] According to hinduism, the vajra is considered one of the most powerful weapons in the universe.

Let’s come back for a while to “the Buddha’s warrior”. He has a name and it’s Vajrapani – literally “the one who wields a (lightning) thunderbolt” (or a diamond). (But we have to remember that many gods can wield vajra.) He is one of the earliest-appearing bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism. The protector and guide of Gautama Buddha and symbolizes all of the Buddha's power.

One of his many depictions (let’s skip those with a few heads and even more arms) is the form with the head, wings, and claws of Garuda. Garuda is half-man half-bird demigod. Dongfang really has some bird-like characteristics not to mention claws but also kind of black wings and bird features (;D)

Vajrapani's expression is wrathful to generate "fear in the individual to loosen up his dogmatism." His outstretched right hand brandishes a vajra, "symbolizing analytical knowledge that disintegrates the grasping of consciousness. Although he sometimes wears a skull crown, in most depictions he wears a five-pointed bodhisattva crown to depict the power of the five Dhyani Buddhas (the fully awakened state of the Buddha).

Source: Vajrapani

Another small hint (from Baidu which showed an entry word from a Chinese-English dictionary which names The Four Heavenly Kings or Guardians of the World as “Buddha’s warrior attendant” – but I’m not convinced that it can be applied here. Actually there were 24 of them in total. However none of them really fits. Although, among the 24 ones, we can find The Moon God “who holds a moon in his hands”; some of them wield vajra; another one is considered the ruler of the three realms, he has two forms: a demonic one and a divine one; another “bears a demonic face (…) and fire emerging from his eyes”... ;)

If someone wants details: Twenty-Four Protective Deities

To sum it up that’s why Dongfang Qingcang is the strongest, domineering, invincible and wields lightnings. It’s because he has a soul of Vajrapani. Maybe he’s some kind of reincarnation of him or maybe he just have a fragment of his soul that allows him to possess the ultimate undefeatable weapon. I have no idea.

How to put it in one line in the subtitles? Though nut to crack. Since every xianxia avoids god’s names, mentioning “Buddha” or any other religious derived words “I’m immortal Budda’s warrior incarnation” is out (and probably an abusage with the “incarnation”).

“I’m the invincible God’s warrior” sounds nice but I can’t help to think that the god is Changheng’s brother XD or any other Heavenly Emperor – I might be gravely mistaken though.

”I have vajra soul that makes me immortal./I wield vajra. You can’t kill me./I’m immortal.” – wouldn’t be understood widely but those curious ones could google what is vajra. However it’s a religious derived word which we want to avoid. And since all of them say they’re immortal and later it happens that they can be “killed” by destroying their primordial soul; but then again they might reincarnate from a petal… “Immortal” means not much anymore ;D

“I’m the one who wields lightning/thunderbolt hence I’m deathless” or shorten “I wield a lighting hence I’m deathless”– pretty badass, understandable and might be sufficient because xianxia is not an introduction to buddhist’s pantheon. But “god’s warrior” sounds so nice when thinking about Dongfang Qingcang… “The God’s protector” would be too much, don’t you think? 

Surely a galaxy far better than a King Kong XP A great name topic it would be if I didn’t make the translation thread already: From King Kong to God’s warrior. 

Let me know which one you like the most or write your own translation :)

*Small bonus*

In the same scene in this episode, a moment later they speak about “a taboo”. I even liked “the weak have taboos. I don’t have taboos”. But since I’ve started to read an unofficial translation of the novel and found out that they’re speaking about “fear” there, I got curious. 

So basically Chidi says it’s against ancient strategies to underestimate one’s enemy. It’s a taboo, something one should avoid and/or fear. Then Dongfang Qingcang answers back that the weak have such taboos (or great fears). He fears nothing./He doesn’t avoid anything.

“百无禁忌” is an idiom which means “all taboos are off” but also means “no restrictions of any kind”. But the Chinese subtitles lack 百 and just “禁忌”aside from a taboo, means to abstain from. And “the weak don’t have” 大忌 - big dread, fear.