By Ajit Krishna Dasa

Many devotees are unaware of what is currently happening on official BBT International websites that host Śrīla Prabhupāda’s lectures.

For example, in the following lecture:

https://prabhupadavani.org/transcriptions/760615bgdet/

Also available here:

https://vedabase.io/en/library/transcripts/760615bgdet/#bb379398

The original audio recording from the 1976 is presented together with verses and purports from the post-samadhi edited Bhagavad-gītā As It Is from 1983. No mention is made that the displayed text is not the edition that Śrīla Prabhupāda himself approved and used while physically present.

This is deeply problematic.

When Śrīla Prabhupāda lectured on Bhagavad-gītā or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, he spoke from specific printed editions. His explanations were tied to those exact words. His arguments, emphases, and language were connected to the books as they stood during his lifetime.

If a later, revised edition is silently placed under those lectures, an artificial alignment is created. It gives the impression that the text being displayed is the very same text from which he was speaking.

It is not.

Attentive listeners may notice discrepancies between the audio and the printed text. This naturally raises questions. Why does the lecture not perfectly match the displayed purport? Has something been altered? If so, by whom – and on what authority?

Such confusion weakens trust.

Śrīla Prabhupāda repeatedly emphasized that his books should not be changed. He warned that even small alterations could damage the integrity of the paramparā. The principle of arsa-prayoga teaches that the words of the ācārya are not to be “improved” by later hands.

Presenting post-samādhi revisions together with his lectures normalizes those revisions and obscures the historical record. It subtly trains readers to accept altered texts as the standard form of his teachings.

Devotees should be aware that this is happening.

The solution is to preserve and present only the editions approved by Śrīla Prabhupāda himself.

His words are complete. They do not require posthumous correction.