On the "Changes" to Srila Prabhupada's Books
Author: Madhavananda Dasa
Source: http://adi-vani.org/articles.php?articleId=94
I remember going to the Library of Congress website, or whatever website that gives out the 'ISBN' numbers, and searching out AC Bhaktivedanta Swami. It stated that the books of AC Bhaktivedanta Swami have been compromised, or changed, indicating that they're no longer the same books and implying that changing an author's works after his passing is uncommon and bizarre.
Many devotees think it's just that, and should be stopped. If not stopped at least countered by matching the printing and distribution of the altered books with an equal or greater amount of the most original editions. No leveling of blame is neccesary just make the changes stop and stop printing the altered books.
If someone wants to prove their scholarship and transcendental erudition let them write their own books, but dont mess up our Guru's books.
The changes to the books are to my knowledge CONTINUING TO THIS DAY. There may be no end in sight.
These people (in the opinion of many) are commiting egregious harm to the beautiful heart of Srila Prabhupada's Merciful mission of GauraVani Pracharine. Who knows Lord Gaurachandra's Vani better than Srila Prabhupada? To take the cheap shot of changing his glorious lifework after he can no longer call them into his room and lay them out in shame in front of everybody is in the opinion of many just plain wrong.
I've personally seen his disciples in tears over these changes. I've seen them scrambling to locate and collect the unchanged volumes for the sake of preserving them. They've even stolen them from public libraries; the only place they could find the original versions.
Before coming to America our spiritual teacher instructed us on the subject of grammar and spelling anomalies in his first statement of the original 1962 Srimad Bhawatam that he brought with him in 1965. (Published by THE LEAGUE OF DEVOTEES (Regd.) VRINDABAN : DELHI (Rs. 16/-)
Incidentally, Srila Prabhupada's disciple Nityananda das printed exact replica copies of Volume 1 (Prabhupada brought the 1st Canto SB in three volumes) in the 80's when the changes were reaching full steam and was preparing to print the other two volumes and the BBT stopped him. They demanded that he cease & desist. For this article I searched the Bhaktivedanta Vedabase and even the 'Pre 1978' BBT Books (No idea what the current editions read) are not the originals. Personally I'd like to see exactly what Prabhupada wrote for me, (and for everyone else); As It Is.
From page (ii), paragraph 8:
I must admit my frailties in presenting the First Part but still I am hopeful of its good reception by the thinkers and leaders of the Society, on the strength of the following statement of Srimad-Bhagwatam. (In this spot he has the sanskrit devanagri verse preceding the Roman transliteration.)
Tad baga visarga janata agha viplavo
Yasmin pratislokam abadda vatyapi
Namani anantasya jasho ankitani yat
Srinnwanti gayanti grinanti sadabah
"On the other hand the literature which is full with description of transcendental glories of the Name, Fame, Form, Pastime of the Unlimited Supreme Lord,-is a different creation of transcendental vocabulary all MEANT FOR BRINGING ABOUT A REVOLUTION IN THE IMPIOUS LIFE OF A MISDIRECTED CIVILIZATION OF THE WORLD. such transcendental literatures EVEN THOUGH IRREGULARLY COMPOSED,is heard, sung and accepted by the purified men who are thoroughly honest." (pp.259) (SB 1.5.11) (I've replaced the dark bold print with capital letters since I'm unable to type bold print on this email)
'Original' or Pre 1978 on Vedabase:
I must admit my frailties in presenting Srimad-Bhagavatam, but still I am hopeful of its good reception by the thinkers and leaders of society on the strength of the following statement of Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.5.11):
tad-vag-visargo janatagha-viplavo
yasmin prati-slokam abaddhavaty api
namany anantasya yaso nikitani yac
srnvanti gayanti grnanti sadhavaù
"On the other hand, that literature which is full with descriptions of the transcendental glories of the name, fame, form and pastimes of the unlimited Supreme Lord is a transcendental creation meant to bring about a revolution in the impious life of a misdirected civilization. Such transcendental literatures, even though irregularly composed, are heard, sung and accepted by purified men who are thoroughly honest."
What was wrong with; "a different creation of transcendental vocabulary" that it had to be changed to "a transcendental creation"? He did introduce transcendental vocabulary to the west that everyone now uses. And why is the dark bold print that SP used for emphasis: "MEANT FOR BRINGING ABOUT A REVOLUTION IN THE IMPIOUS LIFE OF A MISDIRECTED CIVILIZATION OF THE WORLD" and "EVEN THOUGH IRREGULARLY composed" changed to non-bold typeface? These may seem minor to some however I and many others love Srila Prabhupada's way of describing things. To me and them it is relevant.
Why can't his disciples get a copy of the original? Why would Prabhupada's Book Trust forbid the re-printing of the original? Why can't the public see the original?
Srila Prabhupada's words and combinations of his English words are brilliant, perfectly appropriate, and better than anyone else could do. Don't we daily
sing:
"Guru-mukha-padma-vakya, chittete koriya aikya ar na koriho mane asha" (I worship Sri Guru whose transcendental words eminating from his lotus mouth purify and spiritualize my mind, heart, and consciousness. This desire to hear directly from hin fulfills all other desires, and I want nothing more."
I have heard from many of those who were present with him in 1968 when Srila Prabhupada had a heart attack and returned to Vrindaban, he didn't know if he'd be returning. But his epic work The Teachings Of Lord Chaitanya was completed and he said to his disciples then; "I have given you everything you need to push forward this Movement in this book".
I also remember when I met Prabhupada for the second time in 1971 after a more than a year of separation. I walked into the room and I had this book in my hand.
He saw me and I saw he took special notice of the TLC I was carrying. I'll never forget how he looked at his book in my hand. I don't know if any of his books over the years have been changed more than this one.
If you go to:
go to 'TLC' and select '1968-72 edition comparison to the present edition', or just copy/paste this link:
http://krsna.tv/tlc108_changes.htm
Also if you go to:
http://books.krishna.org/Articles/2002/10/004.html
you'll see it also.
And the website:
is helpful to understand this issue.
You will see these are not just "simple minor editing changes". You'll see the multitude of changes to Srila Prabhupada's beautiful, powerful, glorious Teachings Of Lord Chaitanya outlined paragraph by paragraph; original vs. 'improved'. These are the changes throughout the years to the 1968-72 edition of TLC.
Entire sections have been DELETED. Entire concepts have been changed, the order for the chapter titles has been changed. Just some of the examples are included here, the rest are on the 1st two websites previously mentioned;
1) Prabhupada's name has been erased in the TLC's Introduction;
Original:
Yet Lord Chaitanya, in His youth widely renowned as a scholar, Himself left us only eight verses, called Sikshastaka, in which His mission and precepts are revealed. Here, rendered by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, are these eight supremely valuable prayers:
Revised:
Although Lord Caitanya, was widely renowned as a scholar in His youth, He left us only eight verses, called Sikshastaka. These suprememly valuable prayers are translated herein.
2) In this following example, 34 lines of Prabhupada's writing has been DELETED and replaced with a 9 line paragraph of someone else's words:
Original (pg. 284):
In the Garuda Purana there is a verse in which it is said that, instead of becoming a demigod such as Brahma or Lord Shiva, if one becomes a famous devotee of the Supreme Lord in this Age of Kali, that is very rare. Yudhisthira also, in connection with talks between Narada and Pundarika, said, "After many, many births, if somebody comes to understand that he is the servant of Vasudeva, that person is the most famous, and can deliver all others. Similarly, in the Bhagavad-gita; it said, "Anyone who understands that Vasudeva is everything and surrenders to Him is the most learned and wise man." In the Agni Purana it is said that liberation or transcendental life follows all the devotees of Godhead. In the Brhan–naradiya Purana, it is also stated that even personalities like Brahma and the other demigods do not know the value of a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the Garuda Purana also it is stated that, out of many thousands of brahmanas, one is prominent who is expert in performing sacrifices; and out of thousands of such brahmanas who are expert in the performance of sacrifice, one brahmana who is expert in the Vedanta Sutra is the most famous; and out of many, many thousands of Vedantists, one person who is a devotee of Lord Vishnu is the most famous. There are many devotees of Vishnu, and out of them, one who is an unflinching devotee is eligible to enter into the Kingdom of God. In Srimad Bhagavatam, Third Canto, 13th Chapter, it is also stated that there are many students of the Vedas, but one who is always thinking of the Supreme Personality of Godhead within his heart is the best. In the Narayan prayers it is said that even Brahma if not a devotee of the Lord, He is therefore insignificant, whereas even a bacteria who is a devotee of the Lord is famous.
Revised (pg. 340)
The Garuda Purana points out that, out of many thousands of brahmanas, one maybe expert in performing sacrifices, and out of thousands of such expert brahmanas, one brahmana maybe expert in the knowledge of Vedanta Sutra, and out of many, many thousands of Vedantists, there maybe one person who is famous as a devotee of Lord Vishnu. There are many devotees of Vishnu, and out of them, he who is unflinching in his devotion is eligible to enter into the Kingdom of God.
3) We all heard Srila Prabhupada give this analogy dozens of times. Why in the reprint of the Teachings Of Lord Chaitanya, Introduction, was it taken out? Do we want to see Srila Prabhupada's Teachings Of Lord Chaitanya, or someone else's?
Original: (Pg 2 of Introduction)
There is a nice example of this: When I was flying from San Francisco, the plane was above the cloudy ocean. Above the cloud was the sun; and though we came down through the cloud and everything in New York was dim, still, above the cloud, the sun was shining. A cloud cannot cover the whole world; it can't even cover the whole United States, which is not more than a speck in the universe. From the sky the skyscrapers are very tiny, just as from God's position all this nonsense becomes insignificant. I, the living entity, am very insignificant, and my tendency is to come down; but God hasn't got this tendency. The Supreme Lord doesn't come down to Maya, any more than the sun comes under the cloud. But we have the tendency to be controlled by Maya. Mayavadis, impersonalist philosophers, say that because we are under the control of Maya in this world, when God comes, He is also put under the control of Maya. This is the fallacy of their philosophy.
Revised: (Introduction Pg2)
Deleted; gone.
The truth is that Srila Prabhupada was so meek and humble, always fixed in samadhi meditation on the Lotus Feet of The Supreme Lord Sri KrishnaChaitanya Mahaprabhu, he was the Crest-Jewel of the Brahmanas, so dear to Sri Krishna, and the special transcendental emissary to the western countries fortold over 500 years ago by Sri Pancha Tattva and prayed for by Sri Bhaltivinode Thakur 100+ years ago. Sometimes he may have said in his typical humility, similar to Srila Krishna das Kaviraj Goswami; "my English is not so good". Instead of agreeing with him the response should have been: "No Srila Prabhupada, your English is perfect, everything you do is perfect. There should be no changes except spelling corrections if neccesary. Otherwise we should keep it as it is so we can hear the Shabda Brahman transcendental vibration coming through you in its full purity."
He told us in Calcutta, India in the early 1972 on a morning walk; "Sometimes I have to meditate on one verse for one week for writing, it cannot be rushed."
His words are an immense, rare treasure. Why shouldn't they be respected as such?
How can one preach a philosophy of 'Sakshad Hari tvena samasta shastrair, yuktas tatha bhavyata eva sadbhir, Kintu Prabhur ya priya eva Tasya, Vande Gurau Sri Charanaravindam; 'He's as good as God because he's extremely near & dear to God' and simultaneously by practical action (changing the wording of his books) perhaps be saying even louder; "Our interpretation of this verse and this purport is better than our Guru's".
Intelligent people will laugh. It's logically contradictory. It's hypocritical. Prabhupada directed this Movement to intelligent class of people. Besides that the whole concept of a society governed by "might makes right" is wrong, selfish and self-destructive. The whole world 'elite' of politicians, militarists and corporate leaders are embracing this principle and everything can go to hell unless the 'little' people (who are the majority) will speak out boldly for truth and right action. Didn't Srila Prabhupada want to create a class of Brahmanas to show us all the way?
In the email discussions I've recieved one devotee asked the question;
Q: What are those who are busy finding fault with the books doing?
Answer: They're honoring Sri Guru by reading, relishing, worshipping, publishing, and distributing the original works of the spiritual master and trying to convince those printing the "new versions" to stop.
I'm not such a good devotee and I may be full of faults, and it is not my intention to find fault with anyone. I've made mistakes also everyone has. I could have done so much more to serve Srila Prabhupada and done so much better in my service. I'm not doubting there may have been the very best of intentions with the book editing, and I apologize if my statements are strong, but these are strong changes, and in just 28 years. If they're allowed to continue, what will the books look like in another 28 years? The process or system of management that has evolved, allowing this to happen, is not right. There may be a golden opportunity for us to correct it if we look objectively with broad vision. The opportunity for service is eternal and it is still there for all of us. Yasya prasada Bhagawat prasado; if we please him there will be success.
He is the Founder Acharya of the international society the public may still see as representing him. The printing of his books by his Society with his words deleted, changed, revised, or otherwise altered just isn't right. His original books only can be printed, read, and distributed.
He wanted the management of his society to be de-centralized and all devotee's opinions heard. Why have Istagosthi's banned in so many centers?
Isthagoshtis are part of the regulative principles of the society's functioning. The first thing I saw when I first visited the temple was an Istagosthi in progress. I'll never forget it; men in dhotis and women in saris in a large circles talking about every aspect of the ashram and temple life. It happened every week without fail. Everyone had their say and everyone was heard. This allowed the center to function as a cohesive unit. Leaders explained things the congregation wasn't aware of and the congregation members explained things the leaders weren't aware of.
Issues were discussed openly, resolved & agreed upon, and everyone came away with a fresh start and a positive outlook. It was based on a system of love and trust that Prabhupada had insisted upon repeatedly.
Why does the Isthagosthi regulative principle of society management that Srila Prabhupada introduced need to be forgotten, or worse; banned?
Prabhupada wanted the entire congregation to be content with the management, and he personally participated the election process (UK, 1974), amazingly counting himself as deserving of one vote.
Prabhupada was intolerant of profit taking or personal gain. He said no repeatedly to leaders asking if they could pay salaries and became furious if anyone profitted personally in any way from their association in the Movement. Even the Wall Street Journal published the story; "When Scents Make Sense" describing the innovative business model success at Spiritual Sky Incense Co. on Landmark Street in Culver City, CA. WSJ made special mention of the fact that the executives of the corporation had the same salaries as the workers and even lived in the same apartments. This was unheard of in corporate America even then.
How many times did we hear him address this issue; "Not 'one paisa' should be mis-appropriated". Those who were interested in gain & profit left and some became rich in the material realm, where it is appropriate.
Why not remember Srila Prabhupada's response to the devotees who were glorifying him repeatedly in Vrindaban in October and November of 1977;
"Your love for me will be shown by how much you cooperate with each other after I have gone".
If the worldwide society of Vaishnavas can do that, the world will have a very bright future indeed.
Acharya’s Message
