Reviews on other original authorized books by Srila Prabhupada
Srila Prabhupada's Books, watch out for modified, "second edition" versions. These can be recognized by the fact that they have different bookcovers, plates and different translations of verses and changed meaning of purports.
Srila Prabhupada’s literary legacy must be preserved, frozen in time so to speak, for posterity. Continuing changes over the upcoming decades and even centuries will only serve to incrementally denigrate the potency of His gift. The world wants and needs to hear Srila Prabhupada’s transcendental voice As It Is — not the prissy sterility of an editorial cottage industry run amok. Certainly, if the authorized and approved pre-1978 books were good enough for Srila Prabhupada during his manifest presence, they should be good enough for everyone right now!
About the only way out of this editorial and publishing morass is to firmly re-establish the 1972 edition of the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is which was approved and authorized by its author, His Divine Grace, as the literary standard, and then, some time later, to publish the original manuscript so that scholars and spiritually-minded persons can study and comment as they see fit. The editors are free, of course, to print their own books and to make a record as they want, but not under the guise that the original author approved their particular post disappearance word craft.
On the other hand, to continue along the “I know better what Srila Prabhupada really meant” route by allowing post disappearance editorial changes to Srila Prabhupada’s authorized and approved pre-1978 editions can only be seen for what it is — an ongoing, blatant violation of the sastric principle of arsa-prayoga.
At bottom, it is Srila Prabhupada’s transcendental vision the world wants and needs — not the conditioned viewpoint of some editor’s temporal sense of grammar or correctness that we seek.
Some quotes:
Yasodanandan: Sometimes they appeal that “We can make better English,” so they change like that, just like in the case of Isopanisad. There are over a hundred changes. So where is the need? Your words are sufficient. The potency is there. When they change, it is something else.
Svarupa Damodara: That’s actually a very dangerous mentality.
Yasodanandan: What is it going to be in five years? It’s going to be a different book.
Srila Prabhupada: So you… What you are going… It is very serious situation. You write one letter that “Why you have made so many changes?” And whom to write? Who will care? All rascals are there. Write to Satsvarupa that “This is the position. They are doing anything and everything at their whim.” The next printing should be again to the original way. (Srila Prabhupada conversation, June 22, 1977, Vrindaban)
Srila Prabhupada: … So you bring this to Satsvarupada. They cannot change anything. (Srila Prabhupada conversation, June 22, 1977, Vrindaban)
“It is not possible for a common man to write books on bhakti, for his writings will not be effective. He may be a very great scholar and expert in presenting literature in flowery language, but this is not at all helpful in understanding transcendental literature. Even if transcendental literature is written in faulty language, it is acceptable if it is written by a devotee, whereas so- called transcendental literature written by a mundane scholar, even if it is a very highly polished literary presentation, cannot be accepted . The secret in a devotee’s writing is that when he writes about the pastimes of the Lord, the Lord helps him; he does not write himself. As stated in the Bhagavad-gita, dadaami buddhi-yogam tam yena maam upayaanti te. Since a devotee writes in service to the Lord, the Lord from within gives him so much intelligence that he sits down near the Lord and goes on writing books. Chaitanya Charitamrita Adi 8.19
“So unless one is self-realized, there is practically no use writing about Krsna. This transcendental writing does not depend on material education. It depends on the spiritual realization. You’ll find, therefore, in the comments of Bhagavatam by different acaryas, even there are some discrepancies, they are accepted as asat-patha (not being on the right path). It should remain as it is.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.5.23-24, March 31, 1976, Vrindaban)
REVIEWS OF THE ORIGINAL BOOKS:
“I have read Sri Bhaktivedanta Swami’s books with great care, attention and profound interest, and have found them to be of incalculable value to anyone who is curious about India’s spiritual and cultural heritage. The author of these books displays on every page an astounding scholarship in the subjects treated, and also an understanding and ease of exposition of abstruse ideas, which are rarest gifts.” Dr. H. B. Kulkarni Professor of English and Philosophy, Utah State University
“I think the best feature of the Hare Krishna movement is that it is providing scholars with excellent translations of the rarest books on Krishna-bhakti.” Dr. Lawrence Shinn Professor of Religion, Oberlin College
“The publications of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust are very valuable documents and will no doubt become classics for the English reader of Indian religious literature.” Dr. Jerry M. Chance, Chairman Department of Philosophy and Religion, Florida A&M University
“These books are not only beautiful, but also relevant to our times, as we as a nation search for new cultural patterns for our way of life.” Dr. C. L. Spreadbury Professor of Sociology, Stephen F. Austin State University