Arsa-Prayoga: Preserving Srila Prabhupada’s Legacy
Author Archives: Ajit Krishna Dasa
E-BOOK: Arsa-Prayoga: Preserving Srila Prabhupada’s Legacy
Almost 400 pages about the changes made to Srila Prabhupada’s books.
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From the back cover:
“Arsa prayoga, lit. “rishi’s license,” means to honour the acarya by preserving his teachings in the originally published form, not changing what he has written to make it appear more effective or politically correct. There should be no confusion between the work written by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada and edited by Howard Wheeler and the posthumous cent per cent revised copy proposed by Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. By changing Prabhupada’s books without explicitly saying so, they do a discredit to Srila Prabhupada, devotees and scholars. At present it appears that the revisions were made by the original author. This book is meant to be the truth about the editing of Prabhupada’s books carefully chronicled for future generations.”
E-BOOK: No Reply From BBTI
We have created an e-book (free of course) from some of the articles on http://arsaprayoga.com. It is called…
No Reply From BBTI
The changes to Srila Prabhupada’s books that the BBT International does not want you to know about!
READ ONLINE HERE (PDF):
e-book-no-reply-from-bbti-version-0.1-05-10-2014
DOWNLOAD THE E-BOOK HERE! (PDF)
Please share this e-book with as many as possible!
E-BOOK: Blazing Edits
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Aug 20, 2015 — CANADA (SUN) — We invite you to download a copy of Blazing Edits, an e-book collection of segments written by Bhakta Torben Nielsen on the topic of the changes to Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is. This series has been an ongoing publication on Sampradaya Sun and www.arsaprayoga.com.
This e-book was made in a cooperative effort by Bhakta Torben Nielsen (Author), Bhakta Max Køngerskov (Design and Layout), Ajit Krishna dasa (Idea), and the Sampradaya Sun (Publisher). The book will periodically be updated with new segments.
DOWNLOAD LATEST VERSION
Who Is Bhakta Torben?
Bhakta Torben Nielsen, a devotee from Denmark associated with the Hare Krishna movement, is known for his outspoken stance on various issues within ISKCON, particularly the changes made to Srila Prabhupada’s books after his passing.
His critiques have focused on what he sees as deviations from the original teachings and intentions of Prabhupada, ISKCON’s founder. In his view, the editorial alterations—such as revisions and edits to Prabhupada’s texts—compromise the authenticity of the teachings and pose a serious concern for the integrity of the movement.
Nielsen’s writings delve into the nature and extent of these changes, raising questions about their justification and impact. For him, the issue is not merely about preserving the original words on the page; it is a matter of safeguarding the spiritual legacy that Srila Prabhupada intended to leave behind.
The controversy over book changes reflects broader systemic issues within ISKCON, such as centralized authority and fidelity to the founder’s instructions. These concerns, along with others about the governance and direction of ISKCON, were extensively explored in Nielsen’s many articles.
Later he had his work compiled into the above eBook titled Blazing Edits, which addresses the controversial changes made to Srila Prabhupada’s books and advocates for preserving the original teachings without alteration. Through this work, Nielsen aims to shed light on what he and other concerned devotees see as a crucial challenge facing the Hare Krishna movement: the need to preserve Prabhupada’s teachings in their authentic form.
Note on Bhakta Torben Nielsen
Bhakta Torben was originally initiated by Harikesha Swami. When Harikesha later fell from his position, Torben chose to reject him as his guru and discontinued using the spiritual name he had received. This decision reflects Torben’s lifelong commitment to sincerity, integrity, and fidelity to Śrīla Prabhupāda above institutional considerations.
E-book: Srila Prabhupada: The Transcendental Art Master
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Govinda Dasi relates how Srila Prabhupada instructed her and other young devotee artists to paint devotional paintings, how he minutely supervised their work and how unfortunate it is that most of these authorized paintings have been removed from Srila Prabhupada’s books.
Download the book here: Srila Prabhupada: The Transcendental Art Master (by Govinda Dasi, ACBSP)
E-Book: ISKCON’s Changes to Srila Prabhupada’s Bg. and PQPA
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ISKCON’s Changes to Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is and Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers (by Madhudvisa Dasa).
Perhaps the first book on the book changes. So old it was made with a typewriter. Definitely of both present day and historical value. It contains a lot of good evidence against the changes, good arguments and historical documentation (like mails).
Download the book here: ISKCON’s Changes to Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is and Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers (by Madhudvisa Dasa).
Imperishable Add-on Edit (Bg. 15.1)
Plate 35 of the 1972 Edition of Bhagavad-gita As It Is.
Not to be found in the 1983 Edition.
By Ajit Krishna Dasa
Original and authorised 1972 edition:
“The Blessed Lord said: There is a banyan tree which has its roots upward and its branches down and whose leaves are the Vedic hymns. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas.”
The draft a.k.a. “the original manuscript”:
“The Supreme Lord said: It is said that there is a banyan tree which has its roots upward and its branches down; and the Vedic hymns are its leaves. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas.”
Uauthorized 1983 edition:
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: It is said that there is an imperishable banyan tree that has its roots upward and its branches down and whose leaves are the Vedic hymns. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas.”
From lectures:
Pradyumna: (Translation:) “The Blessed Lord said: There is a banyan tree which has its roots upward and its branches down and whose leaves are the Vedic hymns. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas.”
Prabhupada: So this is the description of Vedic literature. Vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah [Bg. 15.15]. That will be described. (Srila Prabhupada, Lecture, See Spiritual Identity Everywhere,
73/10/28 Bombay, Bhagavad-gita 15.1)
Nitai dasa: Translation: The Blessed Lord said: There is a banyan tree which has its roots upward and its branches down and whose leaves are the Vedic hymns. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas.
Purport: After the discussion of the importance of bhakti-yoga, one may question, “What about the Vedas?” (Srila Prabhupada, Lecture, The Purpose of Vedic Study 74/02/26 Calcutta, Bhagavad-gita 15.1)
No objections from Srila Prabhupada.
Comment
1) We here observe that Jayadvaita Swami, after scanning the authorized verse, takes the usual route to an old draft (the so-called original manuscript). An idea for which he has no proper justification.
2) He decides to change “The Blessed Lord”. Here he could have chosen to use Srila Prabhupada’s words from the draft’ translation of Bg. 15.1 which reads “The Supreme Lord said”, but he chose instead to go to the English synonyms and use “The Supreme Personality of Godhead”.
3) Next he decides to add “It is said”. This he took from the drafts’ translation of Bg. 15.1.
4) Then he decides to add an adjective to “banyan tree”. He could have gone back to the English synonyms and used the word “eternal”. But instead he took a trip to the drafts’ purport where he for some reason chose the word “imperishable” over the word “indestructible” which is also in the purport. NOTE: The word “imperishable” is omitted from the purport of both the original 1972 edition and the 1983 edition which makes his choice even more strange.
5) He then changes “which” to “that” even though “which” was both found in the draft and was grammatically perfectly fine. In other words, he found the word “that” not in the English synonyms, not in the translation and not in the purport. But in his own mind.
Hundreds of changes to Srila Prabhupada’s Gita have been documented online. And we see Jayadvaita Swami again and again randomly chose words sometimes from the manuscripts’ translations, sometimes from the English synonyms, sometimes from the purport and sometimes from his own mind.
For the most part it is very hard to find any objective and identifiable criteria for his changes. Especially for changes such as those above. And there are hundreds, if not thousands, of such changes in the Gita alone.
BBT Editorial Policy for Future Editors
The BBT International is apparently in the process of creating editorial policies for future editors i.e. editors working AFTER the present editors’ retirement.
Proposed BBT Editorial Policy for Future Editors
For now, we at Arsa-Prayoga are simply putting this up for everyone to see:
Hare Krishna
Please accept my obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada
The BBT Global Communications team have requested our assistance in widely circulating as far as possible (in ISKCON circles) the draft of the proposed BBT editorial policy to allow for devotees to comment.
Please can you assist in this regard as this is a very important and sensitive subject.
Below is a standard cover letter you can use and attached is the draft policy
I have cc’d in Smita Krsna Prabhu and Rasika Bandhu Prabhu who are co-ordinating this communique for BBT
Your servant
Nanda Kishor das
———————
Dear Devotees
Hare Krishna
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Attached kindly find for your perusal and comment the BBT Editorial Policy.
Kindly send all comments by no later than 20 September 2015 to:
BBT.Global.Communications@pamho.net
The BBT directors, at their latest meeting, had an extended discussion
about Srila Prabhupada’s purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam verse 4.25.41. We will
soon send out a separate memo about that, letting you know where those
thoughts led and seeking your comments.
Yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada
BBT Global Communications
Link to the Guide for Future BBT Editors.
BBTI’s Gives Mutually Exclusive Justifications for the editing of Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers
By Ajit Krishna Dasa
In 1993 BBT International published a new edition of Srila Prabhupada’s Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers. Madhudvisa Prabhu wrote about this:
“The original edition was more or less a transcript of the original conversation. It was edited, of course, to make the English clear and correct and to make it readable. But basically it remained a transcript of the original conversation.
The 1993 version changes all of this. The book is slashed from 99 pages to 77 pages! And the type is not even smaller! So much has been cut out. In one place four complete pages have been deleted!
All the text has been heavily edited and the whole mood of the book has been completely changed. We have not done anything below about the editing, we have just pointed out a few pieces of text (shown in bold) that have been completely deleted from the new edition.” (http://bookchanges.com/iskcon-perfect-questions-perfect-answers-book-changes/)
The BBT International has tried to justify the changes to Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers. But their attempted justifications are mutually exclusive.
BBTI’s Attempted Justification 1
“In the mid-1990s the BBT published a second edition of Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers, edited by a less experienced BBT editor. Because readers of this edition pointed out numerous editorial discrepancies, the BBT directors resolved in 2002 that Dravida Dasa will review the book before its next printing. Either he will correct the discrepancies, or the BBT will revert to the first edition.” (ISKCON Communications Journal Vol. 11, Editing the Unchangeable Truth: An Overview of the Editorial History of the Books of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, 2005)
In 1996 the editing is of Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers was described by Jayadvaita Swami as follows:
(From Madhudvisa Dasa’s ISKCON’s Changes to Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is and Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers)
In this letter Jayadvaita Swami mentions the name of the “less experienced editor” (Sita Devi Dasi), and he claims that her editing made the new version read “more smoothly” and made it “closer to the original transcription”. But he later had to admit that this new and less experienced editor was allowed to change the books of Srila Prabhupada without proper supervision, and that her editing was not good enough.
So this is how Jayadvaita Swami’s explanations sounded in 1996 and 2005 respectively. But a few years ago one of his colleagues posted the following on the internet:
BBTI’s Attempted Justification 2
“A report from Ranjit das, BBTI:
No good deed goes uncriticized.
The story of Perfect Questions Perfect Answers reprint
Recently someone has tried to stir up a new criticism of the BBT by pointing to the re-print (in the 1990’s) of the book Perfect Questions Perfect Answers. Some 20 pages were taken out of the book. Why?
At that time PQPA had been out of print for a long time. The devotee in charge of operations really wanted to re-print the book because he liked it so much. However there was a problem. The book was around 120 pages long. The small books that the BBT were printing at the time had been formatted into 96-page books so that the printers would give a really good price. If PQPA were printed at the 120 plus pages then most of the distributors would not buy them and distribute them because such books as Perfection of Yoga, Beyond Birth and Death, etc were cheaper.
What to do?
Our devotee in charge of operations read the book and a good section consisted of a conversation between Srila Prabhupada and an Indian gentleman who was also present at the time. So our devotee figured that this part could go because it was not really part of the conversation between Bob Cohen (now Brahmatirtha Das) and Srila Prabhupada. But this was just not enough to bring it down to the 96-page format so a few more pages were cut.
Srila Prabhupada himself authorized the same thing with the abridged Gita. This devotee simply followed the precedent. But Srila Prabhupada wanted the word to go out and so did our intrepid BBT manager. And now this is being pointed to as some kind of conspiracy. So our BBT manager, instead of being lauded for the 96 pages that were printed and distributed is criticized for the 20 pages that he did not.” (https://www.facebook.com/bbtedit/posts/10152724990094126)
Like I said, these stories are mutually exclusive. Take a look:
In addition to this, Madhudvisa Prabhu has documented that in fact the second edition has not just had sections and pages cut out. Quite a few individual words and sentences have been randomly removed. Here is a link to Madhudvisa Prabhu’s comparisons. Please check it out yourself.
Our questions to BBT International: What is correct here? The first or second explanation? Or a combination? Or a third or fourth explanation?
The Holy Bible on Book Changes
Thanks to Juan Manuel Ferrera we now know that:
Even in relatively “young” religions like Christianity, tampering with sacred words of prophets carry severe reactions.
Revelation 22.18
18. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
19. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”
These are the very last words of the Bible.
Arsa-Prayoga 
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