The situation can be seen very clearly from the way in which some people make translations. Hardly a year goes by without a new translation of the Dhammapada appearing. There are now probably forty or more available in English alone. And yet, if one compares a new translation with its predecessors, one notes that for the most part the new translation differs only in very minor details: the order of words, perhaps, or the choice of translations adopted to serve for specific technical or semi-technical terms. Anyone reading a translation of a Pāli text is dissatisfied with the translations given for words like dhamma, kamma, nibbāna, āsava, etc., and, sooner or later, is fired with the desire to make a new translation giving what they think is the “proper” or “correct” translation of these terms. Having done this, translators believe that they have made a better translation, without giving any thought to the question of whether they have gained a better understanding of the meaning of the phrase or the sentence as a whole. It has been pointed out14 that quite reputable translators have been known to take over translations from their predecessors, forgetful or perhaps ignorant of the fact that the text they print with their translation follows a different reading, and cannot possibly mean what they say it does.