BY: DRAVINAKSA DAS
The new Danish translation of the molested Gita has a different cover from the original unchanged edition. This is very important to distinguish it from the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is that Srila Prabhupada actually wrote. If the covers were identical people would wrongly think it was the same book. It's not the same book, even the copyrights are different. The copyrights to the original books that Srila Prabhupada wrote are held by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust that was set-up by Srila Prabhupada himself. The copyrights of the changed editions are held by BBTI, a completely different company.
You can check the copyright pages in the front of the books. The originals will say "Copyright 1972-2011 Bhaktivedanta Book Trust". The changed versions will say "(year) Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International Inc."
The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International Inc. (BBTI) in Los Angeles, CA is a private company established in 1987 and incorporated in California. The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust was an Irrevocable Charitable Trust established by Srila Prabhupada in 1972.
It is important to keep changed editions conspicuously distinct from the real editions for legal reasons, copyright concerns and to not misrepresent the product. In the long run it would be in everyone's interest to remove the term "As It Is" and "Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada" from the BBTI edition because Srila Prabhupada never actually wrote that version, nor did he ever approve of it. In fact, in the BBTI copyrights, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is not named as the author.
Well, that says it all, doesn't it? Srila Prabhupada not named as the author, because he is not! This is the bastardized version of the original Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, that Srila Prabhupada authored, approved, lectured from and encouraged his disciples to distribute world-wide by the millions! What a sad and telling tale of impudence on the part of his so-called followers!
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