Tag Archives: krishna

10.27.25
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The Poison of “Correction”

By Ajit Krishna Dasa

Even if the Hare Krishna mantra is chanted with imperfect pronunciation, when it is offered from the heart of a sincere devotee, it fully manifests its spiritual potency. The Lord accepts devotion, not technical precision. When the same mantra is spoken by one without devotion, even if every syllable is perfectly pronounced, it remains spiritually barren.

In the same way, a text, like Bhagavad-gita As It Is, that contains some mistakes but is written by a pure devotee is infinitely more valuable than a text polished and faultless yet composed by a non-devotee or a devotee still bound by the modes of nature, like Jayadvaita Swami. The words of a pure devotee are not of this world—they carry realization, faith, and the power to awaken dormant love of God. Even a text with mistakes written by an imperfect devotee with good intentions is incomparably more beneficial than one written without mistakes by a person bereft of devotion. The measure of truth is bhakti, not grammatical or academic refinement.

Those, like Jayadvaita Swami, Dravida Dasa and the whole BBTI, who cannot grasp this principle and imagine themselves fit to posthumously “correct” Srila Prabhupada’s books expose the arrogance of their own contamination. By inserting their so-called improvements—corrections, additions, alterations, deletions—they violate the arsa-prayoga principle and impose their conditioned, offensive mentality upon the pure devotee’s work and upon the hearts of all who read it. Even when their changes are materially correct, they are spiritually poisonous, for they spring from pride and disbelief. The transcendental mistakes of a pure devotee like Srila Prabhupada are divinely sanctioned; to tamper with them is to challenge the authority of the Lord Himself.

Therefore, to protect the integrity of the transcendental message, Srila Prabhupada’s words must be preserved exactly as he gave them—untouched, unaltered, and undefiled by the ambition of the faithless.

10.17.25
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Krishna – No Longer the Perfection of Yoga – Revisited

By Ajit Krishna Dasa

Arsa-Prayoga.com – Revisited is the title of an upcoming ebook that continues the work begun here on arsaprayoga.com. It re-examines the changes made to Śrīla Prabhupāda’s original books from new angles and explains why each alteration is significant.

Each example will also be posted here on arsaprayoga.com.

Today we are revisiting:

Krishna – No Longer the Perfection of Yoga

Krishna – No Longer the Perfection of Yoga

Description

The original cover of The Perfection of Yoga, published during Śrīla Prabhupāda’s presence, depicts Lord Krishna instructing Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra. The newer version replaces this sacred scene with a modern, abstract image: a silhouetted yoga figure against a cosmic background, accompanied by planetary symbols and a hummingbird.

Type of change

Visual substitution — replacement of the original painting with a completely different concept.

Category

Philosophical change.

Commentary

The original cover: revelation and surrender

The first edition’s painting is not just devotional art — it is theology in color. It captures the divine dialogue of the Bhagavad-gītā: the Supreme Lord imparting transcendental knowledge to the bewildered soul. Krishna’s gesture expresses both compassion and authority, while Arjuna’s posture shows humility and surrender.

This image teaches before one even opens the book. It tells the reader: “Here is yoga in its highest form — the union between the soul and Krishna through surrender and service.” The visual message aligns perfectly with Śrīla Prabhupāda’s text, where yoga culminates not in physical postures or impersonal meditation, but in bhakti-yoga, devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

The new cover: abstraction and self-centered spirituality

The new cover shifts the entire philosophical mood. The central figure is no longer Arjuna receiving revelation but a lone silhouette performing an asana — an emblem of modern yoga culture. The background, with its planets, abstract lights, and hovering bird, suggests cosmic energy and mysticism rather than divine personality.

The focus has moved from Krishna to the individual practitioner. The very idea of “perfection” is reframed — from surrender to the Supreme to self-realization through posture and mental discipline. The new imagery reflects the psychology of self-help and the commercial yoga industry rather than the theology of bhakti.

The consequence: from tattva to marketing

This shift is not cosmetic. It mirrors the broader editorial problem: once Krishna is removed from the center — visually or textually — everything else changes. The meaning of yoga becomes sentimental and speculative.

Where the original cover anchored the reader in tattva (spiritual truth), the new one drifts toward māyā-vāda aesthetics — the impersonal mood of “energy,” “light,” and “universal consciousness.” It exchanges humility for abstraction, devotion for design.

Śrīla Prabhupāda’s original books were meant to preach, not to conform. The old cover declared the eternal truth of Krishna consciousness; the new one markets a diluted idea of spirituality.

In short: the original cover preaches; the new cover advertises.

And that change — from revelation to representation, from śabda-pramāṇa (divine authority) to manuṣya-pramāṇa (human taste) — is the violating of the principle of arsa-prayoga.

10.17.25
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Spaced Out Edit – Revisited

By Ajit Krishna Dasa

Arsa-Prayoga.com – Revisited is the title of an upcoming ebook that continues the work begun here on arsaprayoga.com. It re-examines the changes made to Śrīla Prabhupāda’s original books from new angles and explains why each alteration is significant.

Each example will also be posted here on arsaprayoga.com.

Today we are revisiting:

Spaced Out Edit

https://arsaprayoga.com/2021/02/28/spaced-out-edit/

Description

The article examines a major change in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.16.12, purport, where a large portion of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s original text was deleted and replaced with a much shorter version. In the original Delhi edition, personally typewritten by Śrīla Prabhupāda, the purport included a vivid cosmological description explaining how each planet is “an island in the airy ocean of outer space.” The later BBT-International edition removes most of this section, leaving only a brief mention of Bhārata-varṣa and the Mahābhārata’s description.

Since the Delhi edition was typed by Śrīla Prabhupāda himself, there is no earlier draft that could justify this change. The deletion therefore cannot be called a “restoration.” It is a posthumous editorial removal of material personally written and approved by the author.

Type of change

Deletion and condensation — a large section of original text removed and shortened.

Category

Philosophical change.

Commentary

Deletion and condensation

This is not a correction of typographical error. Substantial text has been eliminated, changing both the content and scope of the purport. Such reduction is not preservation but revision.

Loss of cosmological detail and mood

The removed section presents the Vedic conception of the universe, describing planets as islands in the airy ocean of space. This imagery expresses both philosophical meaning and devotional beauty. Its removal flattens the text, leaving a stripped-down version that weakens the reader’s sense of Vedic cosmology and spiritual wonder.

Interpretive interference

By removing this material, the editor decided which aspects of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s exposition were “essential” and which were not. That decision cannot be editorial—it is interpretive. It transfers authority from revelation to human judgment, from transmission to management.

Modern palatability

It seems likely that the editor considered Prabhupāda’s cosmological explanation too unusual or “unscientific” for modern readers and shortened it to make the purport more acceptable. This turns faithfulness into adaptation. Instead of preserving Śrīla Prabhupāda’s transcendental message, the text is reshaped to suit secular taste.

The result is not merely a shorter purport, but a reorientation of meaning: the Bhāgavatam’s bold transcendental cosmology is softened into something modern minds can tolerate. What was revelation becomes explanation.

Śrīla Prabhupāda’s original books were never meant to be adjusted for comfort. Their strength lies in direct transmission of transcendental knowledge, unbent by modern prejudice. Editing them to “help” the reader understand does not illuminate the message—it dims it. In this change, the editor crosses the line from preservation to modification, from śabda-pramāṇa (divine authority) to manuṣya-pramāṇa (human opinion).

10.15.25
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The Pseudo-Vāda of the Book-Changers

By Ajit Krishna Dasa

Those who have altered Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books like to speak of “devotee cooperation” and “proper channels.” What they mean is submission without scrutiny. They have built a system where questioning is punished, reasoning is re-framed as offense, and loyalty is measured by silence.

Whenever a devotee raises a concern, the reply is almost scripted:

“You are offensive.”

Continue reading →
03.27.24
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PROBLEM OF THE BBT EDITING SUMMARIZED

“The problem of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT) editing can be summarized fairly well with four concise points:

(1) False Assumption of Authority: where Prabhupada only granted conservative, provisional authority, the BBT editors assumed unrestricted, open-ended authority.

(2) Editorial Overreach: where Prabhupāda requested only simple copyediting and correction of obvious mistakes, the BBT editors took great liberties in revising, omitting, and even attempting to correct the author’s content.

(3) Noncompliance with Scholarly Standards: where Prabhupada requested scholarly editorial standards, the BBT editors misapplied scholarly textual methods and employed arbitrary and inconsistent editing practices.

(4) Editorial Changes without Transparency: where devotional and scholarly editorial standards compelled full transparency, the extent of editorial changes by the BBT editors are undisclosed in the author’s works.”

Reference:

Posthumous Editing of A Great Master’s Work – Special Focus on the Writings of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Edited by Graham M. Schweig, 2024, Lexington Books, Introduction, p. 3-4)