Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Gurkuli Conference On book Changes 2016



http://bgconference.com/

PADA: Good idea, we support your conference in Alachua idea. One thing is that some people still say that no one cares about PADA's isssues, but we were discussing these book changes in the mid-1980s (and giving examples of these changes) when no one else was publicly writing about this? It seems to us that just about everybody is talking about this issue nowadays, even the Narayana Maharaja folks are warning their people to only get originals. 

Yep, just about everyone knows about this -- except maybe a few people living under a rock? And we were part of the 1990s BBTI lawsuit steering committee, which eventually lead to getting the legal rights to the originals. Sorry to report this to some folks, but the issue has become very prominent and its not going away anytime soon, rather more momentum is gathering to oppose these changes. 

Anyway! Let us know as this conference idea develops and we'd like to help by contributing materials. This is a historical meeting, great idea! ys pd

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The reality is that ONLY the post-humous edited version of the B.G. is available from the BBT (through their proxy, Krishna.com) online. Moreover, the revised 2nd edition is easily found on the Krishna.com website for $5.95 and $9.95, but the 50% more expensive $14.95 original edition is not so easy to locate.

On the Krishna.com homepage, the banner features the B.G. book. That link takes the reader to a page in which their is another link: "A comprehensive list of all the Bhagavad-gitas available from the Krishna.comstore." Clicking that link, here is what you find: The page you were looking for appears to have been moved, deleted or does not exist. 

The book doesn't appear on the BBTI website at all. (Oddly, the Macmillan online edition is accessible through the BBTI website's link to Vanipedia.com, but not fromKrishna.com.) From my albeit limited understanding, temples are not encouraged (or maybe allowed) to distribute the original edition. 

When Jitarati p. published the handy pocket edition of the Macmillan Gita for $1 ea, they were desired by the temples, but the BBT put the kibosh on temples purchasing it. Many did anyway. Of course, we are only addressing our concern to the Gita, but there have been changes in the CC, SB, and other publications also. 

Keeping track of these significant alterations is a job that the vast majority of readers will never do. Their is no tracking done in the new versions as is often the case when an author's work is modified. Most people are not scholarly like Madhavananda p., so they just accept what is put in their hands with comparing the various versions. They will never have the opportunity to select because they won't even know that the book has changed from the original.

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