Cultures that embody and perform their memories rather than store them in disembodied external systems (archives) seem to remain indifferent to the activity of translation. For millennia Sanskrit, though circulating in a polyglot milieu, remained indifferent to translation and to the "foreign". But the entire theoretical discussion on translation is entrenched in the Judaeo-Christian framework and thus remains impervious to the experience of Sanskrit. While exploring the interface between Sanskrit and Telugu as an act of responsive reception, this chapter critiques the dominant conception of translation.