Defending Prabhupada's Original Translations

[Guest guest]

- ameyatma

madhava58

Tuesday, June 28, 2005 7:31 PM

RE: Book Changes News

3 years ago in Orlando the devotees were reciting a totally different English

translation to the Guru-Puja and were reading from more recently printed

Vaishnav Song Books. Insult upon injury. Every book, not just SP's, has been

changed. I told the devotees (mostly all newer devotees) that this was not the

standard translation, but this was the latest and greatest published by the BBT

- so they kept reciting it. Every Sunday we would sing bhajans, so I decided

to sing one of SP's bhajans (that he wrote on-board the Jaladutta). The songs

are in the Vaishnav Song book copies I have (printed ~ 1975-76. But, both songs

were missing from the newer copies the temple had. That did it, I fired off an

email to the BBT - how dare they do a reprint of the Song books and take out

SP's only 2 personally written bhajans. I knew that SP had instructed Jaya

SaciNandana that these songs can be sung during aratik. I recall that several

months after SP told Jaya Saci this Baradraj and Jaya Saci, on two separate

occasions, in LA tried to sing them during evening aratik, but were then told

by who ever the TP was then (Tulsi das?) not to do so again - he didn't believe

SP really said that - and besides - no one knew the words - so it never caught

on as an acceptable standard). Anyway, I found in the Veda base a letter from

SP to Jaya Saci stating that these songs were to be included in the next

printing of the song book - so I included that quote in my letter to the BBT -

how dare they remove them... And, I also argued that the original

translations to the songs were fine, were approved by SP and should not have

been arbitrarily totally changed (The new translations weren't just correcting

spelling or grammar, but were totally re-written - completely different). To

top it off, I made the point in my email to the BBT that the new reprint of the

Song Book continued to state that the translations were by Jaya SaciNandana and

Achyutananda, yet, a number of the translations were no longer their's, but

were now written by someone else and therefore this was a NEW and DIFFERENT

book and should NOT have the same title, and be put out as the same book, but a

totally new and different book. Dravida responded to my email. I no longer

have the copies, but, was not happy with his response. Dravida Prabhu is an

old friend - and God-brother, and I appreciate his personal association, but, I

totally disagree with his views on the matter of re-writing and editing. He is

a nice devotee, he is sincere, but he needs to be kept in check, for far too

long he has been allowed free range to do what he likes - virtually

unchecked.Paraphrasing from memory, basically he told me that Jayasaci's, and

Achyutananda's translations, in his opinion, contained too many mistakes. He

said that HIS (Dravida's) translations were more word-for-word correct. He

convinced the BBT to reprint with HIS translations on many of the songs (the

BBT left it to Dravida to decide). At Dravida's discretion, then, he chose to

re-translate a number of the songs. In my email to the BBT I had argued that

whether or not the new translations were more technically 'correct' was not of

concern to me. The first concern was that the original translations had been

APPROVED by SP. The new ones were NOT. 2nd, even if the original were less

technically correct, they were far more poetically written (they had more

flowing rhyme and rythme), where as the new translations were more mechanical

- more true word-for word, but they lacked smoothness and poetic character. In

response to that Dravida said that he too liked the original Guru-Puja

translation and he told me that he hoped it would continue to be the one to be

recited in the temples, he claimed he did not re-write thinking that his new

translation would replace the original in temples (Oh, that makes perfect sense

- right???? He replaced it in the books, but didn't really want others to use

his new translation???? Dravida - come'on). He claimed he re-wrote them so

that there would be more technically correct versions made available. (Then,

fine, make his OWN - separate song book, don't publish yours under the same

title as the original).Regarding taking out SP's only 2 personally written

bhajans??? 1) he claimed he did not know about the letter in which SP stated

that he wanted it included, therefore he told me that in the next BBT

printing they would be re-included, and in the latest printing I saw that they

are). 2) he said that he suggested they be removed because he wanted to add

other songs to the book and the BBT did not want to increase the number of

pages, so Dravida decided to take SP's songs out, arguing that so few devotees

ever sing those 2 bhajans anyway - and SP himself never sang them. Just see

the mindset of those who are changing Prabhupad's books!!!For me, Dravida's

insights into why he changed the song books really revealed a lot in their

thinking why they changed all of SP's books. I am traveling away from home and

don't have access to the Vedabase, but in the later months of 77 some devotees

brought to SP's attention that in the new printing of the Isopanishad that the

BBT had made over 100 corrections and changes - SP was angry and upset and

called the BBT devotees all rascals. He ordered that in the next printing it

all has to be changed back to the original. That is the FINAL - LAST WORD in

regards to all the changes in the books. CHANGE THEM BACK TO THE O R I G I N

A L. SP did not ask what "mistakes" they had found, he did not care what the

corrections were - he was upset that they had taken on themselves to make so

many changes and he ordered that in the next printing it all had to be printed

in the ORIGINAL - Unchanged version. PERIOD. END of argument. Final.

There is no more argument. Those who accept SP - and follow his teachings, who

accept his authority, that is the final end all statement on this topic. Yet,

so many who defend the new translations just throw that instruction out. It is

mind boggling. Too bad I can't find the reference. If someone else has it,

please post it. It is good to see it from time to time. Thanks ys ameyatma

das> > Although it was decided by the BBT to reprint Srila Prabhupada's >

original Caitanya-caritamrta Jayadvaita Swami and Dravida, the > devotees who

changed the books, have managed to convince the BBT > trustees to reverse their

decision and print their changed edition instead.> > So many bad decisions have

been made in ISKCON and the BBT simply > because devotees are afraid to think.

They feel they have to surrender > to the gurus, the sannyasis and simply

blindly accept what they say. > But we should not blindly accept. We have to

very carefully consider > the proposals by refering to the teachings of Srila

Prabhupada and by > using the intelligence that Krishna has given us.> > As far

as book changes are concerned, Srila Prabhupada read his books > on a daily

basis and did not ask anyone to change them. Jayadvaita > Swami was there, if

Prabhupada wanted JAS to change the books he would have asked.> But> he did not

ask. He did not want any of his books changed.> > We have a practical example

with the Caitanya-caritamrta. I have heard > from a devotee working in the BBT

at the time Ramesvara (then the BBT > manager) considered many of the paintings

were not finished and he > wanted to make so many changes in the text also. But

Prabhupada > forbade him from making any changes at all. Ramesvara came to

Srila > Prabhupada many times requesting that he be allowed to make changes >

and Prabhupada always forbade him.> Ultimately Prabhupada refered to him as a

demon for wanting to make so > many changes. So we know it for sure, Prabhupada

forbade Ramesvara > from making any changes whatsoever to the Sri

Caitanya-caritamrta. He > was forbidden from even finishing paintings or adding

new paintings.> > The following is a letter presented to the recent BBT meeting

> requesting them to reprint Srila Prabhupada's original Sri >

Caitanya-caritamrta,> > IF YOU CHANGE THE AUTHORITY IS LOST> > Dear BBT

Trustees> > Hare Krishna! Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to

Srila > Prabhupada!> > CHANGE, CHANGE, CHANGE> > "As soon as you interpret or

change the scripture, the scripture > looses its authority. Then another man

will come and interpret things > in his own way.> Another will come and then

another and in this way the original > purport of the scripture is lost."

(Srila Prabhupada - Quest for > Enlightenment - 6)> > I am very surprised that

you have reversed your decision to print > Srila Prabhupada's original Sri

Caitanya-caritamrta and now plan to > print the edition with thousands of

changes by Dravida.> > Surely by now you realize that a huge percentage of your

market are > not interested in Prabhupada's books containing thousands of

unknown, > unauthorized changes.> > THE AUTHORITY OF PRABHUPADA'S BOOKS> > We

are in the very fortunate position of having the actual books > written by

Srila Prabhupada, the books he approved as being > authorized, the books

Prabhupada gave his classes from daily and also > read personally on a daily

basis. No other spiritual group can match > this degree of authority. But if

the BBT makes thousands of unknown > changes and publish the changed books

there is no longer any authority > whatsoever.> > WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT HAS BEEN

CHANGED> > I spoke with Jayadvaita Swami in New York and he agreed that he has

no > idea whatsoever what Dravida changed in Srila Prabhuapda's Sri >

Caitanya-caritamrta. He says he knows the "categories" of the changes, > but is

unaware of the actual changes.> > There is no record of what was changed.

Dravida simply sat down at New > Goverdhana Farm in Australia and changed what

he felt needed changing. > His changes were not checked by anyone, nor

authorized by anyone. He > was free to change anything at all that he wanted

to.> > And he has revealed that his ajenda, at least in part, was to bring >

Prabhupada's Sri Caitanya-caritamrta more in line with the current >

understanding of Guru in ISKCON.> > SATISFYING PRABHUPADA AND ALL THE BBT

CUSTOMERS> > Jayadvaita Swami admitted if the BBT simply printed the books >

authorized by Srila Prabhupada ALL of the BBT customers would be > happy. If

you print Prabhupada's Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, all the BBT > customers will be

very satisfied. The only people in the world--as far > as I am aware--who are

interested in reading changed books are the > book changers themselves. Only>

2> people. JAS and Dravida. Even Dravida says he prefers reading > Prabhupada's

original Bhagavad-gita!> > JAS admitted if the BBT prints the original Cc.

thousands of extra > copies will be sold.> > The only reason JAS put forward

for not printing Prabhupada's original > books is that he "likes" the changed

books. But that is bizarre > because he has no idea what Dravida has changed in

the Cc. He does not > know any of the details.> > THE AMERICAN DISEASE> >

Change, Srila Prabhupada, lamented many times, is the American disease.>

Change, change, and more change....> > "Why do you want to change the wheels?

This is unnecessary. Don't do this.> Keep the old system strong and if

necessary, repair it. Don't change > from this to that. That is your American

disease. This is very serious > that you always want to change everything."

(Srila Prabhupada letter > to Bhakta dasa November 24, 1974.)> > There is no

need for change in Srila Prabhupada's books. We have the > perfect, authorized

books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami > Prabhupada. We simply need

to take advantage of them, print them and > distribute them.> > WHAT IS

DRAVIDA'S QUALIFICATION?> > What is the qualification of Dravida which gives

him the authority to > change anything at all in Prabhupada's Sri

Caitanya-caritamrta with no > checks and balances? You BBT men have given him

this authority. Why? > There is no record of what he has changed, even JAS has

no idea what > he has done to the book.> Yet JAS is such a staunch supporter of

Dravida's changed Cc. Without > even knowing what the changes are? That is not a

very intelligent > position to take. His mood is "I trust Dravida..."> > That is

all right. But we are Prabhupada's disciples. We do not trust > Dravida, and we

do not want to read Prabhupda's books with thousands > of unknown changes by

Dravida. Such books are completely useless.> > HOW CAN WE TRUST DRAVIDA?> > As

far as trusting Dravida and JAS how can we do that? I am sure you > are aware

of the BBT publication, "Hidden Glories of India" by Steven > Rosen, a known

follower of Naryana Maharaja. I do not know if you have > read the section

"Krishna Consciousness Goes West," but if you have > you will know that we have

a BBT book edited by JAS and Dravida which > does not give credit to Srila

Prabhupada for bringing Krishna > consciousness to the Western world.> It does

not even mention Prabhupada until the last couple of paragraphs.> It> goes

through so many "great souls" from the Gaudiya Matha who brought > Krishna

consciousness to the West, it even glorifies Ms. Bowtel in > England who even

today still offers a garland to a Pancha-Tattva > picture... And when it

finally comes to mentioning Srila Prabhupada > they say he was only successful

because the US changed the immigration > laws and Prabhupada was able to stay

in the US longer than the > aforementioned great Gaudiya Matha saints. In any

case they say > Prabhuapda was simply continuing the work started by the GM.

The book > gives no credit whatsoever to Srila Prabhupada for bringing Krishna

> consciousness to the West. The whole book is a Hindu hodge-poge. A > disgrace

to the BBT and an affront to Srila Prabhupada. And who edited > this book?

Dravida and JAS.> > So this is proof 100% that we can not trust Dravida and

JAS.> > JAS's "WARM, FUZZY FEELING"> > None of us, including JAS, know what

Dravida has changed, all we have > is JAS's "warm fuzzy feeling" that he trusts

Dravida.> > So based on the warm fuzzy feeling only he has convinced you to

print > a book that you have no idea whatsoever what has been changed in from >

Prabhupada's original. Such a book is completely useless and will not > be

accepted by anyone at all as authorative.> > What would you think if some

Christian priest took the King James > Bible and went through it changing

whatever he liked to bring it more > in line with the current teachings of the

Christian church? He makes > all the changes without consulting anyone else at

all and without > anyone checking his work. He presents his book to the people

who > publish the "King James" Bible and says "print my King James Bible." > Of

course they will not do it and if they do the whole Christian world > will

protest. The King James Bible is a standard and you can not > change the

standard. This is just what you have done in the BBT. You > have given Dravida

the Cc., he has made whatever changes he thinks are > nice, and you have

printed that completely unauthorized book with > thousands of unknown changes

in it, and you expect Prabhupada's > disciples to accept it?> > YOU DO NOT HAVE

ANY IDEA WHAT HAS BEEN CHANGED IN THE Cc. Yet you are > spending so much money

to print a book which is completely unauthorized.> > SCRAP THE CHANGED

PRINTING> > Brahma Muhurta Prabhu has let me know that some printing of the

inside > pages of the books has been started. My suggestion is that you scrap >

all these inner pages and restart the project of printing Srila > Prabhupada's

original Cc.> > There is no point waiting money binding a book with thousands

of > changes by Dravida...> > WHERE IS THE INTELLIGENCE IN THE BBT?> > Is there

anyone with any intelligence in the BBT? Are you all just > dancing dogs in the

hands of JAS? Can any one of you see the craziness > you are involved in here.>

> This will go down in the history of Vaisnavism. You will never be > forgotten

for this craziness. Just as Srila Prabhupada has warned over > and over again,

"Do not read the books of my Guru Maharaja published > after 1936, my

godbrothers have changed them..." You are repeating > history. You will go down

in history as the men who tried to destroy > Srila Prabhupada's books by

introducing so many unauthorized changes.> > So surely it would be better to go

down in history as one fighting to > preserve the original teachings of Srila

Prabhupada?> > So my humble plea to the BBT trustees is that you please wake up

and > no longer dance to the tune of JAS.> > In my conversion with JAS in NY he

could not give any reason > whatsoever to print the changed Cc. In fact he

agreed if we print > Srila Prabhupada's original Cc. ALL the BBTs customers

will be happy > and you will sell thousands of extra Cc. sets right away. But

he wants > to print the changed books, even though the only real supporters for

> the changed books in the universe are himself and Dravida. JAS admits > he

has no idea what changes Dravida has made, he is simply working on > a "warm

fuzzy feeling" that he trusts Dravida. And he does not care > that his decision

will cost the BBT hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales.> > There are at

thousands of devotees out there waiting to purchase > Prabhuapada's original Cc

now and there will be a very strong market > for the books for a long time.

There is no one at all waiting to > purchase Dravida's books and if you print

it we will do a study of the > changes and restart the book changes campaign

with full force.> > We have not been publically campaigning about the BBT's

changes to > Srila Prabhupada's books in the past few years as we have had some

> success in working cooperatively with the NA BBT. However, if you go > ahead

and print this completely unauthorized edition of the Cc. simply > based on

JAS's "warm fuzzy" feelings for Dravida what option do you > leave us?> > I am

hoping for some sanity. Even if you have started printing the > inside pages of

the changed books scrap them. They are useless. Worse > than useless.> > And

communicate. If you would communicate with us these ideas before > you do

anything we can at least give some input before it is too late.> > Chant Hare

Krishna and be happy!> > Your servant> > Madhudvisa dasa> > Dear Brahma Muhurta

Prabhu> > Hare Krishna! Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila

> Prabhupada!> > You are hinting that I am arguing against removing real

typographical > errors from the books. That is not true. Prabhupada wanted the

books > to be correct.> Correct English, correct Sanskrit. In fact right now

there is some > disagreement with Jayadvaita Swami. I would like to reprint the

> original TLC but it needs a proof reading. There are many very obvious >

errors with the English and the Sanskrit which need to be corrected > and it

needs diacritical marks. I believe the proof reading should be > done and those

corrections made. However the corrections have to be > documented and there has

to be footnotes in the book so the readers > can see what has been corrected

and why. Proof reading is not changing > the books. It is simply correcting the

real English & Sanskrit errors. > If it is printed in the book "sarva dhaxma">

and I correct that to "sarva dharma" that is not changing, that is a >

correction to an obvious error. Or if I add diacritical marks where > there are

no diacritical marks in the original book, that is not > changing the book.> >

As far as the cannons/canals as you have explained it you have > established it

is a transcription error. This type of "error" is in a > different category. It

does not really need to be corrected. Because > editors and translators do not

know where to stop. They will keep on > analyzing the book more and more

minutely and find so many imaginary > "errors" and correct them and in the

process destroy the book. We know > the original English books have an amazing

spiritual potency. If you > simply translate them "as they are"> that potency

will be retained, however, if you make thousands of > changes in the

translation, you will loose the potency and the whole > point will be missed.>

> Srila Prabhupada's original books are pure and potent. They perfectly >

transmit the message of Krishna consciousness and pure devotional > service and

make devotees, we know that for sure. We do not know that > they changed books

have the same potency. That is the problem. This > changing is not a mundane

thing. Prabhupada has forbidden changes and > we should respect that.> Our

principle is that nothing can be changed.> > However, if Prabhupada clearly

says "canals" on the dictation tape and > if it was done in a very open way, if

the decision was made not by one > person and if it was properly documented with

a footnote in the book, > such a transcription error could be corrected. But it

should not be > just changed with no documentation in the book. There should be

a > footnote and a little description of why it was changed. Otherwise in > the

future we will hear a devotee reading the Krsna book on a tape and > when we

read our Krsna book we will find it to be different.> > The point I am making

is Prabhupada's point, "If you change, the > authority is lost."> > As far as

Krsna Book is concerned there are so many changes. There > have been perhaps 4

different editions and the last one even all the > pictures have been changed

and replaced with hideous ones. Prabhupada > would NEVER approve of this. So

many things have been changed in Krsna > book. Even what Prabhupada has said on

the dictation tapes has been > changed by our great scholars going back to

Hriydananda's translation > of the SB. So this is too much. The editors do not

know where to stop. > Prabhupada's words are prefect, Prabhupada's books are

perfect. The > editors want to make them more perfect, but they can not. They

are > destroying them instead.> > The problem is JAS's method of supporting

this destruction of > Prabhupada's books is to find some bona fide correction

and explain > that and imply that all the changes are bona fide corrections.

However > that is not at all the case. In the case of BG JAS does not like >

Hayagriva's editing. And he has tried to remove Hayagriva's editing in > so

many places. But Prabhupada likes Hayagriva's editing and it is > Prabhupada's

book. He has the right to choose the editor. You know it > very well, JAS has

made thousands of changes to the Gita which are not > at all necessary. JAS has

made so many changes that are simply > pedantic and not at all necessary. And it

is all on his whimsical > authority. No one has authorized the changes he made,

no one even knew > what the changes he made were. He made a list of changes to

the > translations only and presented that to the GBC but he changed the >

purports extensively also and the GBC were not provided with any > information

whatsoever on these changes. So they decided [only by one > vote] to accept

JAS's gita, WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT THE CHANGES WERE!!> > The thing is editors

want to change. That is their business. But > Prabhupada's books as they are

potent, pure and perfect. They do not > need to be changed to make devotees.

But if you change them the > potency can be very easily lost. The little

apparent errors that you > may find in the books do not destroy their potency

and authority. But > unauthorized and undocumented changes completely destroy

Prabhupada's > books.> > When reading the new Cc. or the new Gita we can not

know if what we > are reading is from the original book or from Dravida or

JAS.> > We have to be realistic. Dravida and JAS are conditioned souls. They >

make mistakes, they cheat, they are illusioned and they have imperfect senses.>

So> they have taken the great task of changing Prabhupada's books and, no >

matter how sincere they are, their work is full of mistakes.> > JAS admits he

has made many mistakes in the BG changes. This shows > that the process in

which the Bg. and Cc. have been changed is faulty. > If there are corrections

to be made to Prabhupada's books it can not > be left to one man by himself on

a farm in Australia to make the > decisions as to what should be changed. And

one man should never be > given the authority to change whatever he sees fit

without any > documentation of what he has changed and without anyone checking

his > work.> > Look at what you have done with the Cc. You have given it to

Dravida. > He has by himself changed thousands and thousands of things, at

least > partially with the object of bringing Prabhupada's teachings in the >

Cc. more in line with the teachings of today's ISKCON. He is the final >

authority. He makes his changes and you print the book without even > knowing

what he has changed.> This is so foolish that I do not even know why I have to

explain it. > No spiritual organization would ever dream of printing one of

their > scriptures which has thousands of changes in it that they are >

completely unaware of.> > The BBT have accepted Dravida as the supreme

authority, even higher > than Prabhupada, for he has in one case we know of and

surely many, > many other cases changed the words of Prabhupada to bring

Prabhupada's > teachings more in line with today's ISKCON.> > So you have

accepted Dravida as your guru and by publishing > Prabhupada's books adjusted

by Dravida you are trying to force all of > us to accept Dravida as our guru.

But we do not want Dravida as our > guru. We have Prabhupada and we want to

keep Prabhupada.> > So I would like you to consider this and admit that:> > 1 -

You do not know what Dravida has changed in the Cc.> 2 - Jayadvaita Swami does

not know what Dravida has changed in the Cc.> 3 - Prabhupada forbade Ramesvara

from making ANY changes to the Cc. on > many occasions.> 4 - Dravida has no

authorization from Srila Prabhupada to change the Cc.> rather Prabhupada has

forbidden changes to the Cc. specifically. Even > more than any other book.> 5

- The changed Cc. therefore has no authority. It has thousands of > unknown,

undocumented changes by Dravida.> > Therefore, even if you have started

printing the changed Cc. the only > responsible decision to make is to scrap

whatever has been done and > restart printing Prabhupada's original Cc.> >

There is no need for any changes to Prabhupada's books and the > principle

should be to not change anything. If you simply print the > original books

Prabhupada's mission will go on and the world will > become Krishna

consciousness. If you change the books the authority > and potency will be lost

and everything will be finished.> > Editors always want to change, that is their

nature, your job as a > manager should be to stop them from making changes.> >

BBT should be a very simple organization. You have the films for the > original

books. You keep them and send them to the printers every time > you want to

reprint the books and you organize massive distribution of > Prabhupada's

original books all over the world. That should be the > subject of the BBT

meetings. How to distribute Prabhuapda's books all > over the world.> >

Prabhupada's books are the books Prabhupada read himself on a daily basis.>

That will remain forever. You can change but those changed books have > no

authority and will not be accepted by any thoughtful person in the future.> >

If you had the choice of reading a Bible that Jesus Christ himself had > read

daily and given all his classes from and completely approved of > and a Bible

that had been adjusted to more correctly reflect the > teachings of today's

Christian church what would you want to read? Of > course if you are interested

in the teachings of Jesus you want to > read the book he read.> > So there is no

need for change. You can leave the cannons in the Krsna > book and that will not

destroy the authority or potency. But if you > change it to canals without

documenting that change in the book the > authority is lost.> > This is not a

sentimental issue. It is a very serious issue. If you > print Prabhupada's

original books the potency is there and Krishna and > Prabhupada will be

pleased with your service and Krishna consciousness > will spread all over the

world. If you print the changed books the > authority and potency is not there,

it is a complete affront to Srila > Prabhupada who repeatedly referred to change

as the "American > Disease." It will not please Prabhupada, it will not please

Krishna, > and Krishna consciousness will not spread.> > Just look at how the

ISKCON movement has been destroyed since 1983. > The appearance of JAS's Bogus

Bg. People do not get the right idea > about Krishna consciousness by reading

his "revised and enlarged" Bg. > It is a completely different book to

Prabhupada's gita, it is > completely unauthorized, Prabhupada never asked JAS

to "revise and > enlarge" his Gita, it is a complete offense to Srila

Prabhupada and > devotees are not becoming Krishna conscious by reading it.> >

If the BBT go back to printing Prabhupada's original books that will > revive

Srila Prabhupada's ISKCON movement to it's former glory. Why > not try it?>

You> have spent over 20 years pushing changed books with no success. Why > not

try distributing Prabhupada's original books on a grand scale and > see what

happens? That is how Prabhupada spread the Hare Krishna > movement all over the

world in the 70s. And Prabhupada's original > books still have the potency to do

it again. If you just print them > and distribute them in unlimited

quantities...> > Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!> > Your servant> > Madhudvisa

dasa> > Dear Brahma Muhurta Prabhu> > Hare Krishna! Please accept my humble

obeisances. All glories to Srila > Prabhupada!> > It is not very inspiring to

see your reply, "You have made so many > points but I do not have any time to

consider them..." I fear that > would be the only response from the BBT meeting

so what is the point of going?> > You are simply repeating the same old things

and you are ignoring the > points I have made that you have no answer for.> >

We are not discussing Krsna book here, we are not discussing foreign >

translations, we are discussing specifically Srila Prabhupada's Sri >

Caitanya-caritamrta.> > For this book more than others we have the specific

orders issued by > Srila Prabhupada to Ramesvara not to change it at all on

many > occasions. So ultimately to make advancement in Krishna consciousness >

we have to please the bona fide spiritual master. Srila Prabhupada is > the

author of the Sri Caitanya-caritamrta and he repeatedly ordered > that it not

be changed. So if you fight for Prabhupada in this regard > you will be

pleasing Srila Prabhupada and you will get his mercy. I > can guarantee this.>

> That is the first point. Prabhupada ordered Ramesvara not to change > the

Caitanya-caritamrta. It should not have gone any further than > that. We should

have accepted Prabhupada's instructions.> > The other critical point is

Prabhupada's books are supposed to be > authorative. They are supposed to be

like the lawbooks. The original > books are read by Prabhupada daily and

approved by him. He did not > authorize any changes. If you change the books

the authority is lost. > What good is a law book if it is not endorsed by the

government? What > good is a lawbook that was endorsed by the government but

someone has > made thousands of undocumented, unauthorized changes to? It is >

useless, it has no authority and no one will accept it as bona fide.> > The

situation surrounding the changes to the Cc. is outrageous. The > changes were

made by one man in isolation. Everything is based on his > decisions, and there

was no one to authorize or check any of the > changes he made. There is no

documentation of the changes, no one > including even JAS is aware of what was

changed. And further still > Dravida has admitted that his motivations were at

least partially > political. He has admitted to trying to adjust the Cc. so it

is more > in harmony with the GBC's current ideas on the guru issue.> > On top

of this we see that Dravida and JAS are not at all reliable > editors.> This

has been proven by the BBTs "Hidden Glories of India" which was > edited by

both Dravida and JAS. That book is written by an open > follower of Narayana

Maharaja and is completely inimical to Srila > Prabhupada. It minimizes

Prabhuapda's position and gives him no credit > whatsoever for bringing Krishna

consciousness to the West. The credit, > according to the BBT published book,

goes to the Gaudiya Matha > devotees who proceeded Prabhuapda.> So this is

solid evidence that Dravida and JAS do not understand the > position of Srila

Prabhupada and are contaminated by the preaching of > Prabhupada's

godbrothers.> > It is these issues you have to address:> > 1 - Prabhupada

ordered Rameswara many times not to change ANYTHING at > all in the Cc. Finally

he called Ramesvara a demon for continuing to > present ideas of changes to the

Cc.> > 2 - If you change the books the authority is lost> > 3 - All the Cc.

changes were made by one man who had complete freedom > to change anything at

all without any checks and balances and without > any documentation or

authorization.> > 4 - Dravida has admitted that his motivation for changing the

Cc. is > at least partially political.> > 5 - JAS and Dravida are not reliable

editors and are contaminated by > Prabhupada's envious godbrothers> > 6. THERE

IS A HUGE DEMAND FOR THE ORIGINAL Cc. Prabhupada's original Cc.> is> out of

print. There are thousands of devotees out there who want it > and who will

purchase it immediately it is available. We have seen > this with Bg and Krsna

Book. The initial sales are huge. It will be > the same with the Cc.> So> you

are guaranteed to sell thousands of sets of original Cc. the > moment it is

printed. THERE IS NO DEMAND FOR A CHANGED Cc.> > 7. The original Cc. will

satisfy all the BBT customers. There is no > one who will not purchase the

original Cc., however most devotees will > not want to purchase a changed Cc.

So simply from a business point of > view it is crazy to print the changed Cc.

Anyone who would purchase a > changed Cc. would be just as happy, or more happy

with the original > Cc. and if you print the original there will immediately be

thousands > of sales that you will not otherwise get.> > So the resulting

changed Cc. has no authority. It is not approved by > Srila Prabhupada. It has

thousands of undocumented changes made by one > man without any system of

checks and balances and without any > documentation of the changes and not only

that but the editor is not > at all reliable.> > Therefore to print this changed

Cc. would be a great mistake.> > Even if the printing has started [and it may

not have, printers always > tell you they have done more than they really have

done] it should be > scrapped and Srila Prabhupada's original Cc. should be

printed.> > If you do not print the original Cc. my only option is to restart

the > book changes campaign with full force and put into motion a printing > of

Srila Prabhupada's original Cc. outside of the BBT. As I said for > some years

the book changes campaign has been suspended because we > were getting

reasonable cooperation from NA BBT. But this outrageous > decision in relation

to the Cc.> seems to indicate that there is no interest within the BBT in

printing > the authorized books of Srila Prabhupada. I hope you can reverse

this > decision in this BBT meeting.> > There is no problem for the general

devotee community to understand > the issues I have brought up here. For them,

from GBCs, to Temple > Presidents to ordinary devotees and the devotees outside

ISKCON, all > of them want Prabhupada's original books. None of them are

interested > in books with thousands of unauthorized and undocumented changes

by > JAS and Dravida.> > I am at Radha Kalacandajis in Dallas and there is a

group of ISKCON > sannyasis here and I have asked 3 sannyasis so far and all of

them are > strongly in favor of Prabhupada's original books. There is no support

> anywhere for the changed books at all. I have thousands of letters > from

devotees over the years about the book changes issue. And the > only letters I

have supporting the book changes are from Dravida and > JAS. That is the

absolute truth. There is no support whatsoever for > these changed books.> > So

if you can become convinced that the logical decision is to reprint > the

original Cc. I would like you to please present this at the BBT meeting.> If>

you do not print the original Cc. the resulting book changes campaign > will be

huge I can assure you of that. We have practically 100% > support from devotees

at all levels for reprinting Prabhupada's > original books. And I will work on

this with great energy and > determination. And I am sure we will be able to

quickly print the > entire Cc. outside the BBT. That way we will get the sales,

no you.> > Please let me know what you think.> > Chant Hare Krishna and be

happy!> > Your servant> > Madhudvisa dasa> > > __________ NOD32 1.1136

(20050611) Information __________> > This message was checked by NOD32

antivirus system.> http://www.nod32.com