Fwd : Why "Only BBT" is Out of the Question.....................
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CampGaruda
Mar 28, 2014, 3:57:40 PM3/28/14
to Cyavana Swami
FYI : Some very important points are made in the following letter
from Madhuvisa Prabhu. Please read and share with your friends.
Haribol ! Cyavana Swami
Hare Krishna Prabhu,
ISKCON's unauthorized changes to Srila Prabhupada's books are the most
important issue that we, as followers of Srila Prabhupada, have to
understand. Our connection to Srila Prabhupada is through his
transcendental books and as he says: "I am living in my books." So if
someone starts messing with Prabhupada's books he is trying to put himself
between Srila Prabhupada and us. No follower of Srila Prabhupada would ever
tolerate such an intrusion.
ISKCON are trying to force devotees to only purchase books that contain
thousands and thousands of unauthorized changes to and they are practically
banning the reading and distribution of Srila Prabhupada's original books.
Srila Prabhupada's mission was to write, publish and distribute his
transcendental books. Prabhupada has taken the timeless knowledge of the
Vedas and presented it completely without any compromise in a language and
style so easy to understand. Anyone, no matter how fallen, can understand
Vaisnava philosophy and become a fixed up devotee of Krishna by reading his
books.
Prabhupada's books are not ordinary books. Srila Prabhupada said every
night Krishna would come to him and dictate the books. Every day he would
read his own books. When asked by his servant, Srutakiriti Prabhu, why he
was reading his own books, Prabhupada answered: "These are not my books,
they are Krishna's books." Even Prabhupada himself was constantly reading
his own books and enjoying great spiritual ecstasy.
As confirmed many times by Ramesvara Prabhu [who was in charge of the BBT
and the person ultimately responsible for publishing Srila Prabhupada's
books] Prabhupada's greatest fear was that after his disappearance his
disciples [who were infected with what he called "the American disease",
the tenancy to always change] would change his books and thus ruin
everything.
"Prabhupada just explained how everyone's a rascal for daring to touch
anything in his books. The greatest anxiety he has is that after he's
gone we will add things to his books that are bogus, we will take things
out that are bona fide, we will make changes in his books and the whole
work for 10,000 years, his plan Prabhupada was working on, it will all be
spoiled by us because of our tendency to change. And Prabhupada gave an
example that the disease to do things differently is so inherent in the
Americans that for the sake of doing things differently we would walk on
our hands rather than our feet." (Ramesvara interview 1981)
There are hundreds of direct orders by Srila Prabhupada forbidding changes
in his books. Even if they changes were apparently an improvement on
principle Prabhupada would not allow any changes to his books:
"I've had many experiences with Prabhupada literally drilling me,
pounding it into my head that you're never allowed to change anything in
his books. He trained me so intensely on this point. Even when the changes
make sense he wouldn't let me change. Just to train me." (Ramesvara
interview 1981)
This order from Srila Prabhupada forbidding changes to his books is no
secret. If you read Prabhupada's letters you can not miss it. It is
everywhere. Prabhupada is often complaining about the "American disease" of
always changing and he orders his disciples not to change anything.
But unfortunately as soon as Srila Prabhupada left our material vision
Jayadvaita Swami started work on a new "Revised and Enlarged" edition of
Srila Prabhupada's Bhagavad-gita As It Is. Jayadvita had been working in
the BBT for years and was aware Prabhupada's greatest fear was that his
disciples would change his books after he left. Still Jayadviata had a
burning desire to change Prabhupada's books. Prabhupada's chosen editor was
Hayagriva Prabhu, however Jayadviata considered himself a better editor and
thought he could do a better job than Hayagriva had done editing Srila
Prabhupada's books.
So as soon as Prabhupada left the planet Jayadviata tried to go back to the
earliest drafts of the Bhagavad-gita, before Srila Prabhupada and Hayagriva
had edited them, and he tried to remove Hayagriva's editing style and
influence on Prabhupada's Gita and replace it with his own style and
influence.
Hayagriva Prabhu was a University professor in English. Eminently qualified
to present Srila Prabhupada's books in a language and style that was
perfect for the Western audience. The combination of Srila Prabhupada's
writing and Hayagriva's editing was certainly a grand success. On the other
hand Jayadviata was a high-school drop-out with no qualifications in regard
to the English language, however he was a very good typist. Prabhupada has
said in one place that Hayagriva is the best editor and in another place
that Jayadviata is the best typist. So it was like that. They were both
experts in their respective fields.
Jayadviata got a copy of Prabhupada's authorized 1972 Macmillan Gita and
scribbled his changes on the book. He claims his changes are based on
early drafts and transcriptions of dictation tapes, before Prabhupada and
Hayagriva had worked on it together extensively. But on close examination
this claim turns out to be false. There is very little correlation between
the so-called original manuscript and Jayadviata's changes to Prabhupada's
Gita. Even if it was true he was trying to 'correct' Srila Prabhupada's
final, authorized, approved Bhagavad-gita As It Is based on first drafts
that had later been corrected and edited by Srila Prabhupada himself and
his chosen editor Hayagriva. It is outrageous. It is insane. No author
wants his final, edited, approved and published book changed back to some
early draft or dictation tape.
Anyhow the result was a "Revised and Enlarged" edition of Bhagavad-gita As
It Is containing more than one thousand significant changes. The style and
feel of the book has completely changed. Hayagriva's English is beautiful
and poetic and Jayadviata's Engilsh is as you would expect from a
high-school dropout. As well as completely destroying the style and feel
of the book he made many philosophical changes, some very subtle and others
so outrageous that his "Revised and Enlarged" edition, in places, says the
exact opposite to what is said by Srila Prabhupada in his original
"Complete Edition." For example Prabhupada's original Gita (10.34 purport)
says:
"One need not read many books on different subject matters; the ability to
remember a few and quote them when necessary is another opulence."
And Jayadvaita obviously does not like this so he changes it to:
"And the ability not only to read many books on different subject matters
but to understand them and apply them when necessary is intelligence
(medha), another opulence."
So the "Revised and Enlarged" Gita encourages reading many books on
different subject matters and applying them when necessary while
Prabhupada's Gita discourages this. And we can not find this instruction to
read many book on different subject matters anywhere else in Prabhupada's
teachings. This is a new teaching, Jayadviata's teaching, that has appeared
for the first time in his "Revised and Enlarged" Bhagavad-gita. He just
inserts his teachings, realizations and interpretations into Prabhupada's
books like this whenever he thinks it is appropriate to do so.
I can not very extensively discuss the changes here because there are so
many, unlimited, endless changes, not just in Bhagavad-gita, but in many
other books. I would ask you to please go to www.BookChanges.com and make a
through study of the articles there.
It is amazing. BBTI gives complete freedom to their editors to change
anything they want to in Prabhupada's books. And there are no checks and
balances. The editors don't even have to keep any records of what they
change. They don't have to tell anyone what they change. BBTI put complete
and absolute faith in their editors and allow them to change anything and
everything in Prabhupada's books and then they print the changed books
without having the slightest idea what has been changed!
This could never happen anywhere except in ISKCON. Can you imagine any
organization, spiritual or otherwise, that would let one unsupervised
person with no checks and balances whatsoever change whatever he wanted to
change in the vital foundational documentation that forms the basis of the
organization? It is insane, completely and absolutely and totally insane.
This completely and totally destroys the authority of the books currently
being printed by BBTI.
After Dravida (another BBTI editor) reedited Srila Prabhupada's
Caitanya-caritamrta by himself with no checks and balances I asked
Jayadviata if he was aware of what changes Dravida had made, his reply was
"No. I do not know the specific changes, but I know the categories of the
changes he made." So BBTI printed a significantly changed edition of Sri
Caitanya-caritamrta without knowing what had been changed!
When questioned about one very radical unauthorized change on the guru
issue on page 1 of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Dravida's reply was: "What
Prabhupada says does not tally with the understanding of guru we currently
have in ISKCON... I agonized over this for days... and then decided to
change it."
So "Only BBT" is absolutely out of the question. The unauthorized changed
books BBTI are printing carry no authority whatsoever. Even BBTI themselves
are unaware of the changes their editors are constantly making to
Prabhupada's books. So no one can know when they are reading a BBTI book if
what they are reading is from Prabhupada's original book or not. No
thoughtful person will ever be interested in these unauthorized books. They
have purposely implemented a revisionist mentality knowingly in defiance of
Srila Prabhupada's very clear and direct orders not to change his books.
Srila Prabhupada's original books are now available at
www.KrishnaStore.com
Please purchase cases of Srila Prabhupada's original books at the wholesale
prices from www.KrishnaStore.com and distribute them to your friends and
family and to the general public. The only way we can solve this problem is
by widely distributing Srila Prabhupada's original books. So please take
the responsibility for this. The prices are very reasonable and everything
you pay for Prabhupada's original books will go directly into printing more
original Prabhupada books.
Also please read the articles at www.BookChanges.com and educate yourself
on this issue which is the most vital issue for the future of Srila
Prabhupada's movement and Krishna consciousness.
Srila Prabhupada's Original 1972 Bhagavad-gita As It Is is available at:
http://krishnaconnect.com/talk/link.php?M=26538&N=137&L=64&F=T
and you can purchase cases at the wholesale price at:
http://krishnaconnect.com/talk/link.php?M=26538&N=137&L=29&F=T
Please do not reply to this email, I will not receive it. Instead if you
have questions or comments on this email you can post them at:
http://krishnaconnect.com/talk/link.php?M=26538&N=137&L=254&F=T
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa.
KrishnaStore.com -- for everything you need to become Krishna conscious at
home
Krishna.org -- The Hare Krishna Community
PrabhupadaBooks.com -- Read Srila Prabhupada's original books online
Krishna.tv -- listen to and download all Prabhupada music and audio for
free
http://krishnaconnect.com/talk/unsubscribe.php?M=26538&C=f038d28309a890f7b9b4861313941d99&L=6&N=137
--
CAMP GARUDA, Williston Florida. (352)-528-5496. Visit
campgaruda.tripod.com, Chant and Be Happy, HARE KRISHNA, HARE KRISHNA,
KRISHNA KRISHNA, HARE HARE, HARE RAMA, HARE RAMA, RAMA RAMA, HARE
HARE.
from Madhuvisa Prabhu. Please read and share with your friends.
Haribol ! Cyavana Swami
Hare Krishna Prabhu,
ISKCON's unauthorized changes to Srila Prabhupada's books are the most
important issue that we, as followers of Srila Prabhupada, have to
understand. Our connection to Srila Prabhupada is through his
transcendental books and as he says: "I am living in my books." So if
someone starts messing with Prabhupada's books he is trying to put himself
between Srila Prabhupada and us. No follower of Srila Prabhupada would ever
tolerate such an intrusion.
ISKCON are trying to force devotees to only purchase books that contain
thousands and thousands of unauthorized changes to and they are practically
banning the reading and distribution of Srila Prabhupada's original books.
Srila Prabhupada's mission was to write, publish and distribute his
transcendental books. Prabhupada has taken the timeless knowledge of the
Vedas and presented it completely without any compromise in a language and
style so easy to understand. Anyone, no matter how fallen, can understand
Vaisnava philosophy and become a fixed up devotee of Krishna by reading his
books.
Prabhupada's books are not ordinary books. Srila Prabhupada said every
night Krishna would come to him and dictate the books. Every day he would
read his own books. When asked by his servant, Srutakiriti Prabhu, why he
was reading his own books, Prabhupada answered: "These are not my books,
they are Krishna's books." Even Prabhupada himself was constantly reading
his own books and enjoying great spiritual ecstasy.
As confirmed many times by Ramesvara Prabhu [who was in charge of the BBT
and the person ultimately responsible for publishing Srila Prabhupada's
books] Prabhupada's greatest fear was that after his disappearance his
disciples [who were infected with what he called "the American disease",
the tenancy to always change] would change his books and thus ruin
everything.
"Prabhupada just explained how everyone's a rascal for daring to touch
anything in his books. The greatest anxiety he has is that after he's
gone we will add things to his books that are bogus, we will take things
out that are bona fide, we will make changes in his books and the whole
work for 10,000 years, his plan Prabhupada was working on, it will all be
spoiled by us because of our tendency to change. And Prabhupada gave an
example that the disease to do things differently is so inherent in the
Americans that for the sake of doing things differently we would walk on
our hands rather than our feet." (Ramesvara interview 1981)
There are hundreds of direct orders by Srila Prabhupada forbidding changes
in his books. Even if they changes were apparently an improvement on
principle Prabhupada would not allow any changes to his books:
"I've had many experiences with Prabhupada literally drilling me,
pounding it into my head that you're never allowed to change anything in
his books. He trained me so intensely on this point. Even when the changes
make sense he wouldn't let me change. Just to train me." (Ramesvara
interview 1981)
This order from Srila Prabhupada forbidding changes to his books is no
secret. If you read Prabhupada's letters you can not miss it. It is
everywhere. Prabhupada is often complaining about the "American disease" of
always changing and he orders his disciples not to change anything.
But unfortunately as soon as Srila Prabhupada left our material vision
Jayadvaita Swami started work on a new "Revised and Enlarged" edition of
Srila Prabhupada's Bhagavad-gita As It Is. Jayadvita had been working in
the BBT for years and was aware Prabhupada's greatest fear was that his
disciples would change his books after he left. Still Jayadviata had a
burning desire to change Prabhupada's books. Prabhupada's chosen editor was
Hayagriva Prabhu, however Jayadviata considered himself a better editor and
thought he could do a better job than Hayagriva had done editing Srila
Prabhupada's books.
So as soon as Prabhupada left the planet Jayadviata tried to go back to the
earliest drafts of the Bhagavad-gita, before Srila Prabhupada and Hayagriva
had edited them, and he tried to remove Hayagriva's editing style and
influence on Prabhupada's Gita and replace it with his own style and
influence.
Hayagriva Prabhu was a University professor in English. Eminently qualified
to present Srila Prabhupada's books in a language and style that was
perfect for the Western audience. The combination of Srila Prabhupada's
writing and Hayagriva's editing was certainly a grand success. On the other
hand Jayadviata was a high-school drop-out with no qualifications in regard
to the English language, however he was a very good typist. Prabhupada has
said in one place that Hayagriva is the best editor and in another place
that Jayadviata is the best typist. So it was like that. They were both
experts in their respective fields.
Jayadviata got a copy of Prabhupada's authorized 1972 Macmillan Gita and
scribbled his changes on the book. He claims his changes are based on
early drafts and transcriptions of dictation tapes, before Prabhupada and
Hayagriva had worked on it together extensively. But on close examination
this claim turns out to be false. There is very little correlation between
the so-called original manuscript and Jayadviata's changes to Prabhupada's
Gita. Even if it was true he was trying to 'correct' Srila Prabhupada's
final, authorized, approved Bhagavad-gita As It Is based on first drafts
that had later been corrected and edited by Srila Prabhupada himself and
his chosen editor Hayagriva. It is outrageous. It is insane. No author
wants his final, edited, approved and published book changed back to some
early draft or dictation tape.
Anyhow the result was a "Revised and Enlarged" edition of Bhagavad-gita As
It Is containing more than one thousand significant changes. The style and
feel of the book has completely changed. Hayagriva's English is beautiful
and poetic and Jayadviata's Engilsh is as you would expect from a
high-school dropout. As well as completely destroying the style and feel
of the book he made many philosophical changes, some very subtle and others
so outrageous that his "Revised and Enlarged" edition, in places, says the
exact opposite to what is said by Srila Prabhupada in his original
"Complete Edition." For example Prabhupada's original Gita (10.34 purport)
says:
"One need not read many books on different subject matters; the ability to
remember a few and quote them when necessary is another opulence."
And Jayadvaita obviously does not like this so he changes it to:
"And the ability not only to read many books on different subject matters
but to understand them and apply them when necessary is intelligence
(medha), another opulence."
So the "Revised and Enlarged" Gita encourages reading many books on
different subject matters and applying them when necessary while
Prabhupada's Gita discourages this. And we can not find this instruction to
read many book on different subject matters anywhere else in Prabhupada's
teachings. This is a new teaching, Jayadviata's teaching, that has appeared
for the first time in his "Revised and Enlarged" Bhagavad-gita. He just
inserts his teachings, realizations and interpretations into Prabhupada's
books like this whenever he thinks it is appropriate to do so.
I can not very extensively discuss the changes here because there are so
many, unlimited, endless changes, not just in Bhagavad-gita, but in many
other books. I would ask you to please go to www.BookChanges.com and make a
through study of the articles there.
It is amazing. BBTI gives complete freedom to their editors to change
anything they want to in Prabhupada's books. And there are no checks and
balances. The editors don't even have to keep any records of what they
change. They don't have to tell anyone what they change. BBTI put complete
and absolute faith in their editors and allow them to change anything and
everything in Prabhupada's books and then they print the changed books
without having the slightest idea what has been changed!
This could never happen anywhere except in ISKCON. Can you imagine any
organization, spiritual or otherwise, that would let one unsupervised
person with no checks and balances whatsoever change whatever he wanted to
change in the vital foundational documentation that forms the basis of the
organization? It is insane, completely and absolutely and totally insane.
This completely and totally destroys the authority of the books currently
being printed by BBTI.
After Dravida (another BBTI editor) reedited Srila Prabhupada's
Caitanya-caritamrta by himself with no checks and balances I asked
Jayadviata if he was aware of what changes Dravida had made, his reply was
"No. I do not know the specific changes, but I know the categories of the
changes he made." So BBTI printed a significantly changed edition of Sri
Caitanya-caritamrta without knowing what had been changed!
When questioned about one very radical unauthorized change on the guru
issue on page 1 of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Dravida's reply was: "What
Prabhupada says does not tally with the understanding of guru we currently
have in ISKCON... I agonized over this for days... and then decided to
change it."
So "Only BBT" is absolutely out of the question. The unauthorized changed
books BBTI are printing carry no authority whatsoever. Even BBTI themselves
are unaware of the changes their editors are constantly making to
Prabhupada's books. So no one can know when they are reading a BBTI book if
what they are reading is from Prabhupada's original book or not. No
thoughtful person will ever be interested in these unauthorized books. They
have purposely implemented a revisionist mentality knowingly in defiance of
Srila Prabhupada's very clear and direct orders not to change his books.
Srila Prabhupada's original books are now available at
www.KrishnaStore.com
Please purchase cases of Srila Prabhupada's original books at the wholesale
prices from www.KrishnaStore.com and distribute them to your friends and
family and to the general public. The only way we can solve this problem is
by widely distributing Srila Prabhupada's original books. So please take
the responsibility for this. The prices are very reasonable and everything
you pay for Prabhupada's original books will go directly into printing more
original Prabhupada books.
Also please read the articles at www.BookChanges.com and educate yourself
on this issue which is the most vital issue for the future of Srila
Prabhupada's movement and Krishna consciousness.
Srila Prabhupada's Original 1972 Bhagavad-gita As It Is is available at:
http://krishnaconnect.com/talk/link.php?M=26538&N=137&L=64&F=T
and you can purchase cases at the wholesale price at:
http://krishnaconnect.com/talk/link.php?M=26538&N=137&L=29&F=T
Please do not reply to this email, I will not receive it. Instead if you
have questions or comments on this email you can post them at:
http://krishnaconnect.com/talk/link.php?M=26538&N=137&L=254&F=T
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa.
KrishnaStore.com -- for everything you need to become Krishna conscious at
home
Krishna.org -- The Hare Krishna Community
PrabhupadaBooks.com -- Read Srila Prabhupada's original books online
Krishna.tv -- listen to and download all Prabhupada music and audio for
free
http://krishnaconnect.com/talk/unsubscribe.php?M=26538&C=f038d28309a890f7b9b4861313941d99&L=6&N=137
--
CAMP GARUDA, Williston Florida. (352)-528-5496. Visit
campgaruda.tripod.com, Chant and Be Happy, HARE KRISHNA, HARE KRISHNA,
KRISHNA KRISHNA, HARE HARE, HARE RAMA, HARE RAMA, RAMA RAMA, HARE
HARE.
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