Editing the Gita

Dravida Dasa forwards a letter
from Jayadvaita Swami

Dear devotees of Lord Krsna and followers of Srila Prabhupada,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

What follows is a letter Jayadvaita Swami wrote to Amogha-lila Prabhu in 1986 concerning the revision of Srila Prabhupada's Bhagavad-gita As It Is. To make it easier for those without access to the Macmillan Gita to follow Maharaja's points, where it might be helpful I've included the pertinent excerpts within double brackets. Occasionally I've also added page numbers and quotations from the new edition (NE).

Your servant,

Dravida dasa

ALL GLORIES TO SRI GURU AND GAURANGA

[July 1986]

Dear Amogha Lila Prabhu,

Please accept my most humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I am in due receipt of your letter, dispatched June 21, and have noted the contents carefully.

You've heard strongly expressed objections to the second edition of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, and you've written to me because you want to investigate the matter more fully.

I've been silent about this, so as not to overindulge in the animalistic propensity of defending. But since you've raised good questions, it's my duty to answer.

First: To my knowledge, Srila Prabhupada never asked us to re-edit the book.

As you know, and as we kept in mind while doing the work, Srila Prabhupada staunchly opposed needless changes.

You write that Kirtanananda Maharaja told you I regretted having done the editing and that if I'd known of his feelings or read his paper commenting on the work I wouldn't have done it at all.

This is a misunderstanding. What I regret is that I didn't have the benefit of Kirtanananda Maharaja's comments while the work was still going on, long before the book was published.

In fact, a full year before the book went to press, I sent Kirtanananda Maharaja a letter telling exactly what I was doing and why. I included a copy of every change I had made in the translations. And I earnestly asked for any comments, questions, or suggestions he might have. To save us from exactly the kind of controversy he has now raised, the letter pleaded that doubts be voiced then, while time was ample and the work was still on our desks.

I sent the same letter not only to Kirtanananda Maharaja but also to every other member of the GBC, most English-speaking ISKCON sannyasis, various other senior ISKCON devotees, and every ISKCON temple president in the English-speaking world.

What I regret, therefore, is that those who now speak out were silent when their wisdom was sought.

I do *not,* however, regret undertaking the task of revision, and now I shall tell you why.

As mentioned in the "Note about the Second Edition" that appears in the book, the editors of the first edition are to be praised. They did a fine job of making a tough manuscript ready to print.

They also, however, made lots of omissions, goofs, and blunders, which I see no need to immortalize in print.

I suppose that what disturbs some devotees most is the changes in the translations. As you know, Srila Prabhupada considered the translations less important, and so do I. For me the more important revisions, therefore, are the ones in the purports. Of these there are easily several hundred.

To answer your letter, I spent an hour or so going through the book to pull out some samples for you. To examine them you should have before you a copy of both editions--the old one and the new. To look at the samples carefully may take you a couple of hours. But it's the best way I know to answer your questions, and I'm sure you'll find your time well spent.

Here goes.

There are different categories of corrections.

1. SIMPLE BOO-BOOS

For example, simple obvious spelling errors. Who would be willing to insist that the reference to the province of "Behar" (old edition, page 185) should not be changed to "Bihar"?

[[MAC 3.20, purp: Being a great devotee of the Lord, he was transcendentally situated, but because he was the king of Mithila (a subdivision of Behar province in India), ...]]

Chapter 16, verses 1-3, purport. Read the first line of the last paragraph in the old edition. Despite what the purport says, the transcendental qualities add up to 26, not 16. Someone typed a "1" instead of a "2," so the count is off by 10.

[[MAC 16.1-3 purp: All these sixteen qualifications mentioned are transcendental qualities. ]]

2. MISSING EVIDENCE

Here's something more serious. In the old edition, dozens and dozens of Srila Prabhupada's Sanskrit quotations--Vedic evidence, sastra-pramana--have simply been edited out.

In the Introduction of the new edition, for example, here are some of the quotations you'll find restored:

pg.  8: mayadhyaksena prakrti, etc.

pg. 12: muktir hitva anyatha rupam, etc.

pg. 14: parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate

pg. 17: yad gatva na nivartante, etc.

pg. 26: visnu-sakti para prokta, etc.

pg. 28: kirtaniyah sada harih

pg. 30: tad vijnanartham, etc.

These are Srila Prabhupada's words. The Introduction is still available on tape, and you can hear them for yourself.

And if you want something bigger, how about this: The old edition, on page 27, adds a verse Srila Prabhupada didn't speak (nehabhikrama-naso 'sti) and then leaves out every one of the renowned verses from the Gita-mahatmya with which Srila Prabhupada's original Introduction concludes.

I'm not even slightly sorry that these verses have now been restored.

Throughout the new edition the editors have restored dozens and dozens of Sanskrit quotations, large and small, the old edition simply scratched out.

For a few more examples, you can look at the purports to the following verses: 2.43, 2.56 (two quotations), 2.63, 9.4, 9.6 (three quotations), 9.7, 9.9, 9.11 (new edition, pg. 469--three quotations), 9.12, 10.15, 11.43 (three quotations). In 11.54, no fewer than eight quotations have been restored.

And there are dozens and dozens more. The verses you now see are not editorial speculations, guesses, helpful additions or any other such nonsense. They are the very words of our acarya, jumbled by typists and scratched out by editors in the 1960's, now restored to their place in Srila Prabhupada's book.

3. POINTS WITHOUT PINS

Here's another, related sort of omission. Sometimes when Srila Prabhupada comments on a Sanskrit word, the editors have kept the comments but edited out the word. For example see the references to avasam (9.8) and udasina-vat (9.9).

[[MAC 9.8 purp: It is clearly stated here that the living entities have nothing to do with this process.]]

[[NE 9.8 purp; bottom p. 463: It is clearly indicated here by the word avasam that the living entities have nothing to do with this process.]]

[[MAC 9.9 purp: This neutrality is explained here.]]

[[NE 9.9 purp; middle of paragraph p. 464: This neutrality is explained here with the word udasina-vat.]]

Or, at the end of the purport to 13.12: "The beginning of knowledge, therefore, is amanitva, humility."

[[MAC 13.12 purp: ...still he thinks, "I am God" because of ignorance.

>>SENTENCE OMITTED HERE.<< One should be humble and

know that he is subordinate to the Supreme Lord.]]

To me, these references add immensely to the value of Srila Prabhupada's purports. With these references, we can clearly see how Srila Prabhupada's comments directly illuminate specific words of the verse. And, again, these are not editorial whimsies--they're Srila Prabhupada's original words.

4. GLOSSES TOTALLY LOST

Sometimes Srila Prabhupada's comments on a word are *entirely* left out. For example, see his comments on the word na (11.54) [[bottom p. 603, NE]] and tad-arthiyam (17.27) [[near end of purp]]. And these are but examples--there are more.

5. SANSKRIT SLIPS

Sometimes the Sanskrit editors just goofed.

Example: In 7.18, the Sanskrit quoted in the purport doesn't match the English translation that follows it. Why? Because the Sanskrit editor supplied the wrong Sanskrit verse. (If you check in Ninth Canto, you'll see for yourself.) The new edition has it right.

[[MAC In the Srimad-Bhagavatam (9.4.57), the Lord says:

aham bhakta-paradhino hy asvatantra iva dvija

sadhubhir grasta-hrdayo bhaktair bhakta-jana-priyah]]

7.25. A tired typist or sleepy English editor may have helped screw this one up. The prayer the old edition attributes to Queen Kunti was never spoken by Kunti at all. It's from the Isopanisad! The new edition follows the original manuscript and sets things right.

[[MAC 7.25: In the prayers of Kunti in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.8.19) it is said that the Lord is covered by the curtain of yoga-maya and thus ordinary people cannot understand Him. Kunti prays, "O my Lord, You are the maintainer of the entire universe, and devotional service to You is the highest religious principle."]]

9.29. [[NE top of p. 493]] The Sanskrit editor guessed which verse to put in--and guessed wrong. The correction is obvious.

[[MAC 9.29, purp: This is reciprocal. This also explains the words asti na priyah/ ye bhajanti: "Whoever surrenders...]]

10.4-5. Is bhayam (old edition, pg. 498, NE p. 511 near top) really the word for "fearlessness"?

[[MAC 10.4-5: Bhayam, fearlessness, is only possible for one in Krsna consciousness.]]

13.15. Sarvatah pani-padam is not from the Svetasvatara Upanisad at all. It's from the previous verse of the Gita. When the mistake is corrected, you get the brilliant Bhaktivedanta purport of the famous, often misused verse apani-pado javano grahita..

[[MAC 13.15 purp: This is very nicely explained in the Svetasvatara Upanisad in the verse: sarvatah pani-padam.]]

6. MANGLED MEANINGS

Sometimes the inexperienced editors just misunderstood the meaning of a Sanskrit verse.

Example (a small one). 5.2. Aside from being a pretty tough sentence to read, the old editing of Srila Rupa Gosvami's verse scrambles the meaning. The verse doesn't mean that things related to Krsna, "though they are material," should not be renounced. The point is that because they're related to Krsna, they're not material at all. *That's* why giving them up, as the Mayavadis do, is dry renunciation.

[[MAC 5.2 purp, near end: "Renunciation by persons eager to achieve liberation of things which are related to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, though they are material, is called incomplete renunciation."

NE 5.2, purp: "When persons eager to achieve liberation renounce things related to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, thinking them to be material, their renunciation is called incomplete."]]

7. GENERAL BLUNDERS

Then there's what you might call good old-fashioned screw-ups.

2.1. Have you ever had to explain the last sentence of this purport? "This realization is made possible by working with the fruitive being situated in the fixed conception of the self." It's just an editorial mistake, and it doesn't make a damn bit of sense.

[[NE 2.1 purp: This realization is possible when one works without attachment to fruitive results and is situated in the fixed conception of the real self.]]

2.43. In the last paragraph, what are the "four monthly penances"? It should be "four-month penances" (caturmasya).

[[MAC 2.43 purp: In the karma-kanda section of the Vedas it is said that those who perform the four monthly penances become eligible to drink the somarasa beverages...]]

3.35. In the old edition, look at the second sentence of the purport. How often we've heard devotees insist that their prescribed duties must "complement their psychophysical condition." That may be a good idea. But look in the new book and see what Srila Prabhupada actually said.

[[MAC 3.35 purp: Prescribed duties complement one's psychophysical condition, under the spell of the modes of material nature.]]

[[NE 3.35 purp: Materially, prescribed duties are duties enjoined according to one's psychophysical condition, under the spell of the modes of material nature.]]

7.15. The old purport (bottom of page 383 in MAC, bottom 385 in NE) talks about "the swine who eat the soil." I always thought that strange. Do hogs really eat soil? What the original text says is "the hogs who eat the *night* soil." But some editor put a question mark next to "night," and out it went. What in the world is "night soil"? Srila Prabhupada knew--it's a polite name for that good old stuff we all know hogs love to eat.

7.15. Two sentences later, a typist has left out a line. If you want to find out what Srila Prabhupada said the foolish worker will untiringly continue to hear of, you have to look in the new edition.

[[MAC 7.15 purp: Similarly, the foolish worker will untiringly continue to hear of the sense-enjoyable tidings of the flickering mundane force that moves the material world.

[[NE 7.15 purp: Similarly, the foolish worker will untiringly continue to hear of the sense-enjoyable tidings of the flickering mundane world, but will have very little time to hear about the eternal living force that moves the material world.]]

10.27. They once took a "sea journey." Hardly. Our old friend Neal the typist, the college kid who walked into 26 Second Avenue and volunteered to type, simply heard things wrong. It was "sea churning." But back in the old days in the storefront, no one knew the real story.

[[MAC 10.27 purp: The devotee demigods and the demons (asuras) once took a sea journey. On this journey, nectar and poison were produced, and Lord Siva drank the poison.]]

[[NE 10.27 purp: The devotee demigods and the demons (asuras) once took part in churning the sea. From this churning, nectar and poison were produced, and Lord Siva drank the poison.]]

10.29. A "planet of trees"? Fa-aar out! But if the Swami says so, it must be right. Sorry, boys. Srila Prabhupada never said so. It's Neal the typist again. It's a planet of ancestors (pitas), or pitrs (pronounced "pi-trees").

[[MAC 10.29 purp: There is also a planet of trees presided over by Aryama...]]

[[NE 10.29 purp: There is also a planet of Pitas, ancestors, presided over by Aryama,...]]

10.35. Where has the Lord "already explained" that the Sama-veda is "rich with beautiful songs"? Ask Neal the typist. Or else look in the new book and read things right.

[[MAC 10.35 purp: It has already been explained by the Lord that amongst all the Vedas, the Sama Veda is rich with beautiful songs played by the various demigods.]]

[[NE 10.35 purp: It has already been explained by the Lord that amongst all the Vedas, He is the Sama Veda. The Sama Veda is rich with beautiful songs played by the various demigods.]]

13.2. In the old edition (page 621) you'll read "Sometimes we understand that I am happy, I am mad, I am a woman, I am a dog, I am a cat; these are the knowers." This is straight-out nonsense. It's not right, it's not sacred, and it's not the words of my spiritual master.

[[NE 13.2 purp; bottom p. 638: Sometimes we think, "I am happy," "I am a man," "I am a woman," "I am a dog," "I am a cat." These are the bodily designations of the knower.]]

15.2. Is the old second paragraph of this purport supposed to stay screwed up and incomprehensible forever?

[[MAC 15.2 purp: The twigs of the tree are considered to be the sense objects. By development of the different modes of nature, we develop different senses, and, by the senses, we enjoy different varieties of sense objects. The source of the senses--the ears, the nose, eyes, etc.--is considered to be the upper twigs, tuned to the enjoyment of different sense objects. The leaves are sound, form, touch--the sense objects. The roots, which are subsidiary, are the by-products of different varieties of suffering and sense enjoyment. Thus we develop attachment and aversion.]]

[[NE 15.2 purp: The twigs of the tree are considered to be the sense objects. By development of the different modes of nature we develop different senses, and by the senses we enjoy different varieties of sense objects. The tips of the branches are the senses--the ears, nose, eyes, etc.--which are attached to the enjoyment of different sense objects. The twigs are sound, form, touch, and so on--the sense objects. The subsidiary roots are attachments and aversions, which are byproducts of different varieties of suffering and sense enjoyment.

18.31-32. Back in the 60's, the editors somehow changed the word "ignorance" to "passion" and put the purport in the wrong place. Should it stay there?

[[MAC 18.31, purp: Intelligence in the mode of passion is always working perversely. It accepts religions which are not actually religions and rejects actual religion. All views and activities are misguided. Men of passionate intelligence understand a great soul to be a common man and accept a common man as a great soul. They think truth to be untruth and accept untruth as truth. In all activities they simply take the wrong path; therefore their intelligence is in the mode of passion.

[[NE 18.32, purp: Intelligence in the mode of ignorance is always working the opposite of the way it should. It accepts religions which are not actually religions and rejects actual religion. Men in ignorance understand a great soul to be a common man and accept a common man as a great soul. They think truth to be untruth and accept untruth as truth. In all activities they simply take the wrong path; therefore their intelligence is in the mode of ignorance.]]

8. TOO HELPFUL

It's the job of the editor to try to help the reader. But sometimes an editor can be too helpful.

Example: 5.28. In the old second paragraph you'll find a reference to the pratyahara (breathing) process." On the manuscript you can clearly see that the editor, for the benefit of readers new to yoga, has penned in the parenthetical word "breathing." But pratyahara is not the breathing process at all-- it's the process of withdrawing the senses from their objects. The breathing process is pranayama. Should this goof be granted sanctity merely for its presence on the page?

15.2. "The Gandharvas (fairies)." The editor is being helpful again. But is Narada Muni really a "fairy"?

9. THE RED-PENNED PURPORT

When our editors back in the 60's came to a passage too hard for them to figure out, they did what was expedient--crossed it out and kept going. Sometimes it was just a few words, sometimes a sentence or a few sentences, sometimes a whole paragraph.

Sometimes, while trying to prune a paragraph, they cut off valuable fruits and flowers. Sometimes they seem to have thought that Srila Prabhupada was being too heavy. Or sometimes a passage just got inadvertently left out.

Examples:

8.11. The old edition loses the first two sentences of the purport.

[[NE 8.11 purp: Lord Sri Krsna has recommended to Arjuna the practice of sat-cakra-yoga, in which one places the air of life between the eyebrows. Taking it for granted that Arjuna might not know how to practice sat-cakra-yoga, the Lord explains the process in the following verses.]]

8.6, 8.13, 8.14, 8.19. When Srila Prabhupada spoke the whole mahamantra, the typist often just typed some shortcut, like "HK etc." The new edition restores the full mantra: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Just see how in this chapter--"Attaining the Supreme"--Srila Prabhupada repeatedly emphasizes the chanting of these 16 holy names.

8.28. In the new edition, start reading on page 445, from "The words idam viditva. . ." and go on till the purport ends. Just see all that has been restored. And appreciate, especially, Srila Prabhupada's beautiful exposition of how Krsna consciousness grows, from sraddha up to prema.

[[MAC 8.28 purp: One should try to understand the Seventh and Eighth Chapters of the Gita not by scholarship or mental speculation, but by hearing them in association with pure devotees. Chapters Six through Twelve are the essence of Gita, if one is fortunate to understand the Gita--especially these middle six chapters--in the association of devotees, then his life at once becomes glorified beyond all penances, sacrifices, charities, speculations, etc. One should hear the Gita from the devotee because at the beginning of the Fourth Chapter it is stated that the Gita can only be perfectly understood by devotees. Hearing the Gita from devotees, not from mental speculators, is called faith. Through association of devotees, one is placed in devotional service, and by this service Krsna's activities, form, pastimes, name, etc., become clear, and all misgivings are dispelled. Then once doubts are removed, the study of the Gita becomes extremely pleasurable, and one develops a taste and feeling for Krsna consciousness. In the advanced stage, one falls completely in love with Krsna, and that is the beginning of the highest perfectional stage of life which prepares the devotee's transferral to Krsna's abode in the spiritual sky, Goloka Vrndavana, where the devotee enters into eternal happiness.]]

[[NE 8.28 purp: The words idam viditva indicate that one should understand the instructions given by Sri Krsna in this chapter and the Seventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gita. One should try to understand these chapters not by scholarship or mental speculation but by hearing them in association with devotees. Chapters Seven through Twelve are the essence of Bhagavad-gita. The first six and the last six chapters are like coverings for the middle six chapters, which are especially protected by the Lord. If one is fortunate enough to understand Bhagavad-gita--especially these middle six chapters--in the association of devotees, then his life at once becomes glorified beyond all penances, sacrifices, charities, speculations, etc., for one can achieve all the results of these activities simply by Krsna consciousness.

One who has a little faith in Bhagavad-gita should learn Bhagavad-gita from a devotee, because in the beginning of the Fourth Chapter it is stated clearly that Bhagavad-gita can be understood only by devotees; no one else can perfectly understand the purpose of Bhagavad-gita. One should therefore learn Bhagavad-gita from a devotee of Krsna, not from mental speculators. This is a sign of faith. When one searches for a devotee and finally gets a devotee's association one actually begins to study and understand Bhagavad-gita. By advancement in the association of the devotee one is placed in devotional service, and this service dispels all one's misgivings about Krsna, or God, and Krsna's activities, form, pastimes, name and other features. After these misgivings have been perfectly cleared away, one becomes fixed in one's study. Then one relishes the study of Bhagavad-gita and attains the state of feeling always Krsna conscious. In the advanced stage, one falls completely in love with Krsna. This highest perfectional stage of life enables the devotee to be transferred to Krsna's abode in the spiritual sky, Goloka Vrndavana, where the devotee becomes eternally happy.

9.26. The first edition loses the whole first paragraph.

11.52. In the new edition, page 599, on the last few lines of the page, the fool who offers respect only to the impersonal "something" within Krsna finally gets what he deserves--Srila Prabhupada's boot in his face.

[[MAC 11.52 purp; top 586: A foolish person may deride Him, but that is an ordinary person. Krsna is actually desired to be seen by demigods like Brahma and Siva in His two-armed form.]]

[[NE 11.52 purp: A foolish person may deride Him, thinking Him an ordinary person, and may offer respect not to Him but to the impersonal "something" within Him, but these are all nonsensical postures. Krsna in His two-armed form is actually desired to be seen by demigods like Brahma and Siva.]]

13.5. Srila Prabhupada's gloss on chandobhih has returned to the page, the next paragraph now makes proper sense, and the last paragraph has been recovered.

[[NE 13.5 purp (retrieved material) (p. 644): There are many great sages who have explained this, and Parasara is considered principal among them.

The word chandobhih refers to the various Vedic literatures. The Taittiriya Upanisad, for example, which is a branch of the Yajur Veda, describes nature, the living entity and the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

As stated before, ksetra is the field of activities, and there are two kinds of ksetra-jna: the individual living entity and the supreme living entity. As stated in the Taittiriya Upanisad (2.9), brahma puccham pratistha.
. . .
(p. 655)

One has to search for this truth in the Vedanta-sutra, or Brahma-sutra.

It is mentioned here that the codes of the Brahma-sutra are very nicely arranged according to cause and effect. Some of the sutras, or aphorisms, are na viyad asruteh (2.3.2), natma sruteh (2.3.18), and parat tu tac-chruteh (2.3.40). The first aphorism indicates the field of activities, the second indicates the living entity, and the third indicates the Supreme Lord, the summum bonum among all the manifestations of various entities.

13.19. Two whole paragraphs lost! For me, Srila Prabhupada's summary of verses 6 through 18 opened up a new understanding of a chapter that had long perplexed me.

[[NE p. 663. First two full paragraphs retrieved.]]

16.7. The history of religious editing is not without its humor. Srila Prabhupada's manuscript clearly says, "One should always be careful to keep his body clean by bathing, brushing teeth, shaving, changing clothes, etc."

But back in the 60's, we kept our beards--and trimmed off the word shaving.

You've now had a glimpse of the hundreds of omissions and mistakes in the first edition of Bhagavad-gita As It Is.

Should what was lost have stayed permanently lost? Should what was screwed up in the 1960's have stayed screwed up forever? I leave it to you to decide.

Your servant,

Jayadvaita Swami