By Ajit Krishna Dasa

Link to original Arsa-Prayoga article:

https://arsaprayoga.com/2013/10/24/enjoying-the-self-within-or-the-duty-of-the-finger-bg-4-38/

Description

In the 1972 Macmillan edition of Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, approved and used by Śrīla Prabhupāda, the translation of BG 4.38 reads:

“And one who has achieved this enjoys the self within himself in due course of time.”

In the 1983 BBT International edition, the translation is changed to:

“And one who has become accomplished in the practice of devotional service enjoys this knowledge within himself in due course of time.”

Multiple phrases have been replaced or expanded, and the purport has been altered to match the new interpretation.

Type of change

Substitution and deletion (translation + purport)

Category

Philosophical change

Commentary

1. Change of theological focus

The original states that the self-realized person “enjoys the self within.” The revised version replaces “the self” with “this knowledge,” shifting the focus from spiritual identity to mental content. That is not a correction of language but a change of doctrine.

2. Introduction of wording not found in the original

Original: “has achieved this”
Edited: “has become accomplished in the practice of devotional service”
This inserts a new conceptual framework and changes the subject of the verse from realization to performance.

3. Removal of Vedāntic clarity

The original expresses the result of realization — the soul directly experiencing its own spiritual nature.
The edited version turns the verse into a statement about enjoying accumulated knowledge through devotional practice.

4. The “manuscript restoration” claim is invalid

The 1972 edition is already closer to the manuscript than the 1983 rewrite. Changing the published edition in the name of “restoration” while actually adding interpretive wording is not restoration — it is posthumous editing.

5. Śrīla Prabhupāda never corrected or objected to the original wording

Prabhupāda lectured from this verse and didn’t say the translation was wrong or needed revision. His silence is better seen as evidence of approval than evidence of disapproval.

6. Effect on meaning

-Shift from “enjoying the self” to “enjoying knowledge”
-Shift from realization to information
-Shift from divine fact to devotional process

Conclusion

This is not a spelling or grammar correction. It is a shift in meaning — from direct realization of the self to the enjoyment of knowledge gained through practice. That shift did not come from Śrīla Prabhupāda. It came from a posthumous editor, Jayadvaita Swami.

Such changes do not preserve Bhagavad-gītā As It Is — they transform it into Bhagavad-gītā JAS it is.
This is a clear violation of the principle of arsa-prayoga: the words of the ācārya must not be altered after his departure.