About the Book

BBT International, Inc. has now removed Śrīla Prabhupāda’s controversial statement about rape from the purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.25.41.

This is especially significant because the BBT has previously maintained that controversial statements should not simply be removed in order to make Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books more acceptable to modern readers. Yet this is precisely what has now happened.

I have therefore written a new book, Understanding Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Statements on Rape.

The book examines what Śrīla Prabhupāda actually said about rape, sexual aggression and women’s sexual psychology, and attempts to understand these statements in their wider philosophical, śāstric and psychological context. It also considers relevant empirical research and carefully distinguishes between describing aspects of sexual psychology and morally approving of rape.

The Larger Issue: Ārṣa-Prayoga

But there is also a larger issue here: ārṣa-prayoga and the preservation of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books.

Removing a difficult passage is the wrong solution. If a statement is controversial, it can be explained, contextualized, discussed and, if necessary, defended. But once editors begin deleting Śrīla Prabhupāda’s words because they are considered unacceptable by contemporary standards, a precedent has been established for future revisions.

Where does it stop?

Which statements will the next generation consider too offensive, too politically incorrect, too difficult to explain, or too damaging to ISKCON’s public image? Who decides which of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s teachings modern readers should be allowed to encounter?

The issue is therefore much larger than one controversial purport. It concerns the principle by which Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books will be transmitted to future generations.

Difficult statements should be preserved, studied, contextualized and honestly discussed—not silently removed from the books of the ācārya after his departure.