Havoc and Distortion

Take careful note because here it is for all to see, the corner stone rationale plainly admitted in an article entitled "Faithful To Srila Prabhupada's Words" posted on March 11, 2006, on chakra.org by Jayadvaita Swami, the architect and editor-in-chief of the so-called "revised and enlarged" editions: " . . . closer fidelity to Srila Prabhupada's original words." EXTREME CAUTION: DO NOT BE MISLED BY Jayadvaita Swami's UNACCEPTABLE MISUSE AND TWISTING OF THESE EMOTIONALLY CHARGED TRIGGER WORDS!

Essentially, Jayadvaita Swami's assertion is that post disappearance editing (in blatant violation of both Srila Prabhupada's direct instructions and the spiritual principle of arsa-prayoga) is IMPLICITLY AUTHORIZED because, IN JAYADVAITA SWAMI'S EYES, the 10,000 year editorial rewrite campaign he launched brings the ALREADY PUBLISHED text closer to arbitrarily selected words which appear in a so-called manuscript - EVEN THOUGH THE AUTHOR HIMSELF DID NOT WANT THE SO-CALLED MANUSCRIPT PUBLISHED AND, IN FACT, THE AUTHOR DID NOT PUBLISH THE SO-CALLED MANUSCRIPT!

Just IMAGINE the havoc which would be created were this SERIOUSLY DISTORTED RATIONALE applied to every author's ALREADY PUBLISHED WORK by some editor (slash wannabe writer) after the author's demise! No one would ever know what an author actually wanted presented as his final product. The logical extension of this SERIOUSLY DISTORTED RATIONALE would be for the BBT to RECALL EACH AND EVERY Bhagavad-Gita As It Is ever printed and then substitute the SO-CALLED MANUSCRIPT in it's place. If the BBT is not prepared to do that, then Jayadvaita Swami and his merry band of editorial staff replicates should pen their OWN books and STOP CHANGING SRILA PRABHUPADA'S BOOKS!

Note also that with regard to the so-called manuscript - which in actuality is a series of tattered, typed pages and editorial notes made over different periods of time - there is no documentation available to authenticate who transcribed what, who made the editorial notes, on what basis changes were made or not made, or even to verify exactly when those notes were made. This is the flimsy evidence trail that Jayadvaita Swami attempts to use to MANUFACTURE AUTHORITY WHICH DOES NOT EXIST to change Srila Prabhupada's authorized, approved and ALREADY PUBLISHED books under the GUISE of being "faithful to Srila Prabhupada's words."

Srila Prabhupada had practically every verse and purport read aloud from the AUTHORIZED, APPROVED AND PUBLISHED 1972 Bhagavad-gita As It Is during class - yet NEVER ONCE asked Jayadvaita Swami to dig up and SUBSTITUTE some draft version of variously typed pages (the so-called manuscript that Jayadvaita Swami relies on) in place and stead of the AUTHORIZED AND APPROVED PUBLISHED EDITION! It is utterly inane to continue to second guess and insult Srila Prabhupada on this point, especially considering that Srila Prabhupada's direct and unequivocal INSTRUCTION was specifically NOT to change even ONE word of his beloved Bhagavad-gita As It Is! Just what part of "AS IT IS" does Jayadvaita Swami not understand?

Moreover, I highly doubt that there are any actual voice recordings of Srila Prabhupada dictating the words which appear in one version or another of the so-called manuscript - nor any oral recording that correspond to these galley proofs and editorial notes. Of course, even if there were, that would not change the essential core point that Srila Prabhupada AUTHORIZED AND APPROVED THE PUBLISHED VERSION – NOT THE MANUSCRIPT, and, that there is ABSOLUTELY NO AUTHORITY TO MAKE POST DISAPPEARANCE CHANGES. The editorial cottage industry which Jayadvaita Swami invented and has expanded for the past three decades is based on smoke and mirrors, and has only served to creat havoc and distortion. This must stop. See A Time For Substance, Not Fluff.

I will also note that this SEVERE DISTORTION of Srila Prabhupada's unequivocal instructions NOT TO CHANGE HIS BOOKS is orchestrated by the same person, Jayadvaita Swami, who officially denied the very existence of Srila Prabhupada heart - the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust - in the 1997/1998 California trust litigation. As you may recall, that litigation resulted in revalidation of the BBT as a trust along with a license to publish the original books begrudgingly issued to Krishna Books Inc.

In his unrelenting attack on Srila Prabhupada's adi-vani, Jayadvaita Swami - as a Trustee of the same BBT that he argued in 1997/1998 never existed or in the alternative was legally defunct - continues to take a position in DIRECT CONFLICT with the Settlor of the BBT, Srila Prabhupada, who SPECIFICALLY SAID NOT TO CHANGE HIS BOOKS. Clearly, Jayadvaita Swami exhibits a SERIOUS CONFLICT between his loyalties to himself as the editor-in-chief of the post-disappearance revised edition, on the one hand, and his overarching fiduciary duty as a trustee of the charitable trust formed by the original author for his original works, on the other.

Should Jayadvaita Swami sincerely desire to be "FAITHFUL TO SRILA PRABHUPADA'S WORDS" as he publicly represents, then he needs to seriously study and act on THESE words:

"Therefore we are presenting Bhagavad-gita as it is. No change. Other they are interpreting in their own way. That is not Bhagavad-gita. That is something else. In the words of God there is no question of changing. You cannot change. As soon as you make a change, immediately it is material; it has nothing to do with spiritual world."
- Srila Prabhupada in a Room Conversation on August 5, 1976.

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