By Ajit Krishna Dasa

Jayadvaita Swami wrote in 1986:

“As you know, and as we kept in mind while doing the work, Śrīla Prabhupāda staunchly opposed needless changes.” (Jayadvaita Swami, Letter to Amogha Lila, 1986)

This statement is correct. Śrīla Prabhupāda did staunchly oppose needless changes — and this principle is the foundation of ārṣa-prayoga, the principle that the words of a pure devotee are not to be altered by conditioned editors.

The following example — pointed out to us by Bhakta Torben Nielsen in his ebook Blazing Edits — illustrates the issue perfectly.

We look at a posthumous edit introduced by BBT International (BBTI) in the 1983 revised Bhagavad-gita As It Is, specifically 18.2, purport.

Original (Prabhupāda-approved pre-samadhi edition):

“There are many prescriptions
of methods
for performing sacrifice
for some particular purpose
in the Vedic literatures.”

Posthumously edited (BBTI edition):

“In the Vedic literature
there are many prescriptions
of methods
for performing sacrifice
for some particular purpose.”

This is not a correction.
This is not a clarification.
This is not a doctrinal improvement.

It is simply a relocation of one phrase — a stylistic reshuffling that has no philosophical or grammatical necessity whatsoever.

What problem did this edit solve?

None.

Was the original incorrect, unclear, or misleading?

No.

Did Srila Prabhupada ever request this change?

No.

Did BBTI give a reason for it?

No.

According to Jayadvaita Swami’s own standard — “Prabhupāda opposed needless changes” — this is precisely the kind of change Śrīla Prabhupāda would not have approved.

The contradiction is unavoidable:

1. Jayadvaita Swami says unnecessary edits violate Prabhupāda’s wishes.
2. Jayadvaita Swami then makes an unnecessary posthumous edit.

That is why this small change becomes a perfect diagnostic tool. It shows that once editors begin altering Srila Prabhupada’s books based on personal preference or literary style, the entire principle of ārṣa prayoga has already been abandoned.

Why This Matters for Bhagavad-gita As It Is

The 1972 first edition was personally approved, lectured from, distributed, and trusted by Śrīla Prabhupāda. The 1983 posthumously edited edition by BBTI was not.

When even a harmless sentence — one that Prabhupāda accepted and used — is needlessly altered, it proves the deeper issue:

Posthumous editing inevitably leads to editorial overreach, because the standard has shifted from “transmit exactly” to “improve according to taste.”

And once that door opens, the rest of the book becomes vulnerable.

It all starts with edits exactly like this.