Support this
This library is free to read and will stay free to read. No paywall on a verse, no login to see a translation, no advertisement between a reader and a mantra. That is not a marketing position, it is the whole point.
What it actually costs
Almost nothing to serve, and a great deal to make. The site is pre-rendered and served from a CDN, so a million readers cost roughly what a hundred do. The real cost is human: paying scholars and reciters to check, sign and record material that currently sits unsigned.
| Cost | Shape | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting and domain | Small and flat | Static files on a CDN. This is the cheap part and it is why the architecture was chosen. |
| Signing translations | Per verse, per language | A qualified reader checking and putting their name to a rendering. This is where money makes the most difference. |
| Recitation recording | Per śākhā | Recording reciters in unbroken paramparā, while they are still reciting. |
| Manuscript acquisition | Occasional and large | Getting scans out of institute archives and into the open. |
What support will never buy
- Earlier access to a verse. Everything publishes at once, to everyone.
- Influence over a reading. Where editions disagree we print both, and no donor changes that.
- Removal of an inconvenient label. A draft stays marked as a draft.
- Advertising space anywhere near the text.
How to help right now
Donations are not open yet. The mechanism is being set up properly, with published accounts, because a library that asks for money owes its readers a clear view of where it goes. In the meantime the most useful things you can do cost nothing:
- Sign or correct a translation, if you are qualified to.
- Point a scholar or a reciter at this.
- Use the API and the bulk download. Copies in other people's hands are the only real preservation.
To talk about funding directly, write tohi@432labs.com. This project is run by FourThreeTwo Labs Private Limited.