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Nectar of Devotion 1983 change – completely against Srila Prabhupada’s direct letter
PrabhupadaBooks.com Srila Prabhupada’s Original Books
Nectar of Devotion 1983 change –
completely against Srila Prabhupada’s direct letter
“That is his tendency, to correct. That’s very bad. He should not do that. The system is: whatever authority has done, even there is mistake, it should be accepted.”
[Room Conversation — February 27, 1977, Mayapura]
https://krishnaconsciousnessmovement.com/?p=31899(1979 Ramesvara Interview confirms that there was no need to change the books)
Hare Krsna. All glories to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
This article presents evidence of disobedience to the orders of Srila Prabhupada which were directly given in writing.
The following is an example of an unauthorized book change in the Nectar of Devotion, 1983 edition.
Changing, swapping and mixing Krsna’s qualities in different orders: [The order is mentioned correctly in 1970 edition as we will see in a letter by Srila Prabhupada further]
Let’s observe the change below:
Original 1970 Edition: (Chapter 22)
61. Performer of Wonderful Activities
In the Bṛhad-Vāmana Purāṇa, the Lord says, “Although I have many fascinating pastimes, whenever I think of the rāsa-līlā, which I perform with the gopīs, I become eager to have it again.”
One devotee has said, “I know about Nārāyaṇa, the husband of the goddess of fortune, and I also know about many other incarnations of the Lord. Certainly all the pastimes of such incarnations are exciting to my mind, but still, the pastimes of the rāsa-līlā performed by Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself are wonderfully increasing my transcendental pleasure.”
In the Tenth Canto, 31st Chapter, 15th verse, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the gopīs lament: “My dear Kṛṣṇa, during the daytime when You go out into the forest of Vṛndāvana with Your cows, we consider one moment to be twelve years, and it is very difficult for us to pass the time. And again when You come back at the end of the day, by seeing Your beautiful face we are so much attracted that we are unable to stop looking upon You constantly. At these times, when there is occasional blinking of our eyelids, we condemn the creator, Lord Brahmā, as a dunce, because he does not know how to make perfect eyes!” In other words, the gopīs were disturbed by the blinking of their eyes because for the moment that their eyes were closed they could not see Kṛṣṇa. This means that the gopīs’ love for Kṛṣṇa was so great and ecstatic that they were disturbed by even His momentary absence. And when they saw Kṛṣṇa, they were also disturbed. This is a paradox.
One gopī, expressing herself to Kṛṣṇa, says: “When we meet You at night, we consider the duration of night to be very small. And why speak of only this night? Even if we had a night of Brahmā* we would consider it a very short time!” We get an idea of Brahmā’s day from the following statement of the Bhagavad-gītā: “By human calculation, a thousand yuga cycles taken together is Brahmā’s one day. And such also is the duration of his night.” (BG 8.17) The gopīs said that even if they could have that duration of night, it would still not be sufficient for their meeting with Kṛṣṇa.
* 4,300,000,000 solar years equals twelve hours, or one night, of Brahmā.
62. Kṛṣṇa’s Attractive Flute
In the Tenth Canto, 35th Chapter, 8th verse of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the gopīs tell Mother Yaśodā, “When your son plays on His flute, Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā and Indra—although they are supposed to be the greatest learned scholars and personalities—all become bewildered. Although they are all very great personalities, by hearing the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute they humbly bow down and become grave from studying the sound vibrated.”In his book Vidagdha-mādhava, Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī thus describes the vibration of Kṛṣṇa’s flute: “The sound vibration created by the flute of Kṛṣṇa wonderfully stopped Lord Śiva from playing his ḍiṇḍima drum, and the same flute has caused great sages like the four Kumāras to become disturbed in their meditation. It has caused Lord Brahmā, who was sitting on the lotus flower for the creative function, to become astonished. And Anantadeva, who was calmly holding all the planets on his hood, was moving in this way and that due to the transcendental vibration from Kṛṣṇa’s flute, which penetrated through the covering of this universe and reached to the spiritual sky.”
63. Kṛṣṇa is Surrounded by Loving Devotees
When we speak of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa is not alone. Kṛṣṇa means His name, His qualities, His fame, His friends, His paraphernalia, His entourage—all of these are included. When we speak of a king, it is to be understood that he is surrounded by ministers, secretaries, military commanders and many other people. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is not impersonal. In His Vṛndāvana līlā especially, He is surrounded by the gopīs, the cowherd boys, His father, His mother and all the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana.
Changed 1982 Edition:
61. Performer of Wonderful Activities
In the Bṛhad-vāmana Purāṇa, the Lord says, “Although I have many fascinating pastimes, whenever I think of the rāsa-līlā, which I perform with the gopīs, I become eager to have it again.”
One devotee has said, “I know about Nārāyaṇa, the husband of the goddess of fortune, and I also know about many other incarnations of the Lord. Certainly all the pastimes of such incarnations are exciting to my mind, but still the pastimes of the rāsa-līlā performed by Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself are wonderfully increasing my transcendental pleasure.”
62. Kṛṣṇa Is Surrounded by Loving Devotees
When we speak of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa is not alone. “Kṛṣṇa” means His name, His qualities, His fame, His friends, His paraphernalia, His entourage – all of these are included. When we speak of a king, it is to be understood that he is surrounded by ministers, secretaries, military commanders and many other people. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is not impersonal. In His Vṛndāvana līlā especially, He is surrounded by the gopīs, the cowherd boys, His father, His mother and all the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana.
In the Tenth Canto, Thirty-first Chapter, verse 15, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the gopīs lament, “My dear Kṛṣṇa, during the daytime when You go out into the forest of Vṛndāvana with Your cows, we consider one moment to be twelve years, and it is very difficult for us to pass the time. And again when You come back at the end of the day, by seeing Your beautiful face we are so much attracted that we are unable to stop looking upon You constantly. At these times, when there is occasional blinking of our eyelids, we condemn the creator, Lord Brahmā, as a dunce, because he does not know how to make perfect eyes!” In other words, the gopīs were disturbed by the blinking of their eyes, because for the moment that their eyes were closed they could not see Kṛṣṇa. This means that the gopīs’ love for Kṛṣṇa was so great and ecstatic that they were disturbed by even His momentary absence. And when they saw Kṛṣṇa, they were also disturbed. This is a paradox.
One gopī, expressing herself to Kṛṣṇa, says, “When we meet You at night, we consider the duration of night to be very small. And why speak of only this night? Even if we had a night of Brahmā we would consider it a very short time!” We get an idea of Brahmā’s day from the following statement of Bhagavad-gītā (BG 8.17): “By human calculation, a thousand yuga cycles taken together is Brahmā’s one day. And such also is the duration of his night.” The gopīs said that even if they could have that duration of night, it would still not be sufficient for their meeting with Kṛṣṇa.
63. Kṛṣṇa’s Attractive Flute
In the Tenth Canto, Thirty-fifth Chapter, verse 15, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the gopīs tell mother Yaśodā, “When your son plays on His flute, Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā and Indra – although they are supposed to be the greatest learned scholars and personalities – all become bewildered. Although they are all very great personalities, by hearing the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute they humbly bow down and become grave from studying the sound vibrated.”
In his book Vidagdha-mādhava, Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī thus describes the vibration of Kṛṣṇa’s flute: “The sound vibration created by the flute of Kṛṣṇa wonderfully stopped Lord Śiva from playing his ḍiṇḍima drum, and the same flute has caused great sages like the four Kumāras to become disturbed in their meditation. It has caused Lord Brahmā, who was sitting on the lotus flower for the creative function, to become astonished. And Anantadeva, who was calmly holding all the planets on His hood, was moving in this way and that due to the transcendental vibration from Kṛṣṇa’s flute, which penetrated through the covering of this universe and reached to the spiritual sky.”
[Changes in revised book-
1. Qualities number 62 and 63 are swapped
2. Quality number 63 was only one paragraph written by Srila Prabhupada himself, but it was merged with some content of 61st quality to label it as the quality number 62.
When Srila Prabhupada wrote only one paragraph in his letter to Jayadvaita Swami, why is it that the editors have changed and mixed everything as per their own thoughts without any consultation?
The 61st quality was explaining about Krsna’s wonderful pastimes and an experience of transcendental pleasure felt by a devotee due to his remembrance of Krsna’s rasa lila, which is the most wonderful. Then there are descriptions of how the Gopis are attracted to Krsna and their calculation of the duration of night while they spend the time with him. All this goes according to the flow of the book.
But once these qualities are mixed with one another, there is some disruption with the proper flow of how things are described.
Srila Prabhupada’s direct instructions regarding this Quality number 63 to Jayadvaita Swami:
I am very glad to learn that Nectar of Devotion is now completed. You have inquired about the quality number 63 of Krishna that He is surrounded by loving devotees can be explained as follows: When we speak of Krishna, Krishna is not alone. Krishna means His name, His qualities, His fame, His friends, His paraphernalia, His entourage–everything included. Just like when we speak of a king, it is to be understood that he is surrounded by ministers, secretaries, military commanders and many other people. Krishna is not impersonal, so in His Vrindaban Leela especially, He is always surrounded by the Gopis, cowherd boys, His father, His mother and all the inhabitants of Vrindaban.
[Letter to Jayadvaita written from Los Angeles, January 30, 1970]
The above letter shows that Srila Prabhupada himself directly instructed the editors about all the qualities and there was NO NEED OF SWAPPING, DELETION AND UNNECESSARY INSERTIONS.
Why is it that the editors apply their own brains in altering the book as per their own ways without even considering Srila Prabhupada’s direct instructions to not change anything?
Conclusion:
There are so many changes like this found.
We need to get serious about increasing the number of original books. Although there have been few good corrections, it is still better to keep things as they are.
We can notice how they have changed everything and spoiled the books in the name of correcting the errors. They have introduced more and more things that are completely not according to the philosophy and even against Srila Prabhupada’s direct instructions as we have explained above.
Therefore, it is best to simply stick to the first editions.
Hare Krsna.
(HOW TO ACCELERATE ORIGINAL BOOK DISTRIBUTION?)
LINK TO READ ORIGINAL FIRST EDITION NECTAR OF DEVOTION(1970 Authorized Edition): https://drive.google.com/file/d/18vdvcc8U2O8tZ5BzaIIp_PjiddjkxS7e/view?usp=sharing
(Please share this with as many people as possible to distribute Originals)