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By Krishna Kripa Devi Dasi (ACBSP) (Originally posted on adi-vani.org.)

Original and authorized 1972 edition versus the unauthorized, changed 1983 edition

See the table below for the number changed in each chapter.

How many Bhagavad-gita As It Is verses were changed in the 1983 revised edition?  Over three-fourths of them, 77% or 541 verses were changed out of 700 total.

Srila Prabhupada’s 1972 Bhagavad-gita As It Is, published by Macmillan Company, was compared with the BBT revision, first published in 1983.  Only the verses were examined.

In 21 verses (3%), only the spelling, punctuation or capitalization was changed, and the words were left intact.  In 520 verses (74%), words were removed, rearranged, or inserted.  In Chapter 17,  93% of the verses were changed.  See the table below for the number changed in each chapter.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Verses Changed in the BBT 1983 Revised Edition

Chapters 1 – 18:  541 verses out of 700 = 77% changed

Number of Verses Changed Per Chapter

Ch 1:   35 out of 46 = 76% changed;

Ch 2:   49 out of 72 = 68% changed;

Ch 3:   33 out of 43 = 77% changed;

Ch 4:   23 out of 42 = 55% changed;

Ch 5:   19 out of 29 = 66% changed;

Ch 6:   43 out of 47 = 91% changed;

Ch 7:   22 out of 30 = 73% changed;

Ch 8:   21 out of 28 = 75% changed;

Ch 9:   24 out of 34 = 71% changed;

Ch 10:  36 out of 42 = 86% changed;

Ch 11:  50 out of 55 = 91% changed;

Ch 12:  16 out of 20 = 80% changed;

Ch 13:  24 out of 35 = 69% changed;

Ch 14:  24 out of 27 = 89% changed;

Ch 15:  15 out of 20 = 75% changed;

Ch 16:  20 out of 24 = 83% changed;

Ch 17:  26 out of 28 = 93% changed;

Ch 18:  61 out of 78 = 78% changed