Historical Gita Study Guide cover of first printing 1977
I have attached a copy of the cover of the ‘Teaching and Study Guide to Bhagavad-Gita As It Is’, that Hasti Gopal das is referring to in his post.
I have an original copy, printed by the BBT in 1977 (2,500 copies).
It should be noted that this work was prepared by Subhananda das (a BBT Editor at that time) and credit was given to him for that on the inside ‘Title Page’ (copy also attached).
It appears that in the ‘online’ copy, Srila Prabhupada’s full Introduction to the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is has been included at the start, however the rest of the contents are as per the original BBT printed work. I suppose as Subhananda das is no longer a ‘society’ member, also as many of us, they decided not to mention his name, however IMHO I feel ‘credit where credit is due’.
Your fallen servant,
Balaram das (Australia)
Dear Balaram das (Australia)
Thank you very much for the original Gita cover. I remember it well now that it has been revealed again.
Also thanks for giving the credit to Subananda dasa who was directly involved in getting it out. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a copy of the original b\guide book?
All glories to your service. Stay cool and safe.
Dear Hasti Gopala das prabhu,
Yes, Subananda das spent a bit of time in Australia, mostly Melbourne when I was TP in 70s & 80s. I always appreciate his valuable Introduction to Sri Brahma-Samhita, wherein he confirms that Srila Prabhupada on sanctioning the publication, instructed that not a single word be changed from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaj’s ‘somewhat technical and sometimes difficult prose’. So much for the infidels now rewriting our Srila Prabhupada’s transcendental literatures!
“As per Srila Prabhupada’s instructions regarding the publication of this volume, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati’s somewhat technical and sometimes difficult prose has been left intact and virtually untouched. Fearing that any editorial (grammatical and stylistic) tampering with Bhaktisiddhanta’s text might result in inadvertent changes in meaning, Prabhupada asked that it be left as it is, and the editors of this volume have complied with his wishes. Only typographical errors have been corrected, capitalization has been standardized, Sanskrit terms in devanagari script appearing within the English text has been transliterated, and already transliterated terms have been adjusted to international standards………………The Indian edition of the Brahma-samhita included the complete text, in Sanskrit, of the commentary of Jiva Gosvami, the great Caitanyite philosopher, but that has been excluded from this edition because, in light of the relative few in the west who would benefit from this inclusion, it was decided that the necessary doubling of the volume’s size and price would be disadvantageous”.
I actually have an original Sri Brahma-Samhita printing with Srila Jiva Gosvami’s sanskrit commentary in a hardbound cloth-embossed cover dated 1932, the same year Srila Bhaktisiddhanta’s signed Forward is dated 1st August 1932. The first printing was done in Madras at the Madras Law Journal Press. I will email photos of the book to you, which was given to me by our dear Godbrother Upendra prabhu, when I was a new bhakta in 1972.
It’s interesting that the politics were going on even back in the 1930s. In Srila Bhaktisiddhanta’s famous Foreward, beginning with ‘The materialistic demeanor’, he writes on page v… “Thanks would be pouring to Tridandiswami Bhakti Pradeep Teertha and Professor N.K. Sanyal, M.A. of Ravenshaw College, Cuttack, who have given facility to help the readers” (maybe proof-readers or assistant editors?)
Anyway in the BBT publication printed in 1985, the above appreciation by Srila Saraswati Thakur is OMITTED from the Foreward. Apparently the original copy that the BBT obtained was from a different branch of the Gaudiya Math, and as these 2 named devotees did not belong to that GM branch, they did not want to give credit to those from the other Math, so just omitted Srila Bhaktisiddhanta’s words. History repeating itself!
Also prabhu, not sure what you’re referring to with the statement from your comment..
“Wouldn’t it be nice to have a copy of the original b\guide book?” (b\guide book?)
हरे कृष्ण
Yfs, Balaram das.