Testimonials – By Bhagavat das My Dear Godbrothers and Godsisters: Please accept my most humble obeisances! All Glories to Srila Prabhupada! I am very glad that we as disciples of Srila Prabhupada are finally doing something about this great offense to our Spiritual Master. I would like to tell three stories that are personal experiences of mine with Srila Prabhupada and his books. It is my earnest hope that these stories will once and for all lay to rest the controversy of anyone ever editing Srila Prabhupadas books. Story TWO Once in Bombay Srila Prabhupada ordered me to come to his room and listen to him preach to some life members. I sat there and listened for almost an hour. After they left he started to chastise me. Why are you not coming here everyday to listen to me preach. You are one of my leaders if you do not learn how to preach from me then what will happen? Then he quoted a verse in Sanskrit from Bhagavad Gita and asked me if I knew this verse in English, where it was in the Gita, and what the meaning was. I unfortunately had no answers. Are you reading my books everyday, he asked. I admitted my neglect. If you do not read my books everyday then how will you learn? You are going out to make lif e members and collect big donations but you are not reading my books. You must read my books every day! Then he said Even I read my books everyday. Do you know why? I proffered no answer and waited for the revelation. Because every time I read these books even I learn something! I sat in stunned silence. Then he asked, do you know why I learn something every time I read these books? Now I was completely bewildered, because I have not written these books. What transpired next was simply amazing. He looked me very intently making strong direct eye contact. He spoke with great authority but with a mystical mood bordering on the ecstatic as he began to describe how His books are written. Everyday He said When I sit down here to write these books He was now looking into space waving His hands in the air His voice filled with Transcendental emotion Krishna personally comes and dictates every word. I got the sense that Krishna was present in the room at that moment but I was too blind to see Him. Now Srila Prabhupada returned His eyes to mine. Therefore He said, Whenever I read these books even I learn something and if you read my books everyday you will also learn something every time you read them. So here it is quite clear that just like Baladeva Vidyabhushana and other great Acharyas in our line Srila Prabhupada received direct dictation from Krishna when he was writing His books. Is Jayadvaita receiving direct dictation from the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Sri Krishna when he edits the books? If not then he should leave the books alone! Before we move on to the last story we should examine in more detail some of the inner meanings of Srila Prabhupada’s descent into the material world for the purpose of writing these books. Whenever the Supreme Lord descends he always brings with him his entourage. Similarly when a greatly advanced Nitya Siddha devotee appears in this world a few associates from the spiritual world and many highly developed souls with great amounts of sukriti from the material world come to join him. In a lecture in Los Angeles on the appearance day of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, Srila Prabhupada wept openly as he told the devotees that they had all been sent here to assist him by His Guru Maharaj. It is not an accident that Srila Prabhupadas style of writing from the early Srimad Bhagavatams was a flowery British English which is derived from the poly-syllabic Mediterranean languages. It is not an accident that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur sent Srila Prabhupada Hyagriva who was a writer and ardent admirer of the early American transcendentalists like Emerson and Thoreau who wrote in a similar poetic style. It is not an accident that Srila Prabhupada spent hours pouring over the manuscripts, the paintings, etc editing and adjusting everything so it was just right. None of these things are accidents, the pastimes of the pure devotee are transcendental. Unfortunately some people have a mundane view of the Spiritual master’s activities and think that they can improve on what is already perfect even if there are some so called discrepancies. Even if the verses are imperfectly composed they are transcendentally potent none the l ess. Does Jayadvaita have any absolute evidence in writing from Srila Prabhupada that approves every single change that he makes? Unless Jayadvaita was sent here personally by Sri Krishna for this purpose or is taking dictation from the Supreme Lord then his adjustments are simply speculation or personal preference. Jayadvaita was not invited into the editing process by Srila Prabhupada. One good reason could be Jayadvaita’s writing style. Jayadvaita favors the short choppy English form influenced by the Viking languages which is used more for business and common literature like magazines and newspapers. This was his style at BTG and that is not acceptable for poetic scripture. Jayadvaita’s problem is he just doesn’t get it. The Disciples of Srila Prabhupada want that he should leave the books alone! He has taken a very slim 1 vote margin of the GBC to fix some typos to changing the entire meaning of the texts. Without Srila Prabhupada’s personal presence to confirm the changes he is making, from old tapes and manuscripts which have not been accurately cataloged, he cannot be sure that Srila Prabhupada did not already reject those versions in favor of what is already in the book. What we are absolutely sure of is that Srila Prabhupada approved of each book that was printed after extensively reviewing it. Therefore whatever has been signed off on by Srila Prabhupada while he was here on the planet cannot be changed period. You may add an errata or addendum in the back of the book if you have some serious concerns but the actual texts and purports themselves must not be adjusted in any way. To do so is to insult Srila Prabhupada, and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur by doubting their transcendental plan. To do so is to insult Sri Krishna as the Supreme arranger. To do so without a mandate from Sri Guru and Gauranga is to place your own speculation above the Supreme Lord and His Divine emissaries. Without the Nitya Siddha Pure Devotee present to confirm the changes we are allowing the mental speculation of one man to destroy the absolute nature of the most important scriptures for the next 10,000 years. Jayadvaita: leave the books alone!
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 05:29:38 +0000
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