BBT Editor Dravida Speculates On Editing

MY DEAR VAISHNAVA SISTERS AND BROTHERS:

My affectionate praṇāmas unto all of you. Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda!

Below, in this short post, I present to you the exact words that came from the very typing fingers of Dravida Das Prabhu, who wrote to someone (I'll try to locate the correspondence and context) about the nature of his editing Śrīla Prabhupāda's books:

"This speculation of mine may sound outrageous, but in a way all my editing work is like that -- I have to think that if Prabhupada was looking over my shoulder he would approve. So that's how I feel about it, and that's how it will be." ––Dravida Das

There are a few things I would like to bring to your attention, if it is not already obvious: 

(1) Dravida does not mind speculating when it comes to his editing; 

(2) Dravida is indeed aware of how his editing can "sound outrageous" but has no compunction about it; 

(3) Dravida is working with the tentative assumption, expressed in the conditional word "if," that Śrīla Prabhupāda is looking over his shoulder, and even though he's not sure, he certainly sounds overly confident in the remaining words; 

(4) Dravida is confident that he has Śrīla Prabhupāda's approval, despite so many seasoned devotees having very serious and sober questions about his work, and 

(5) Dravida declares that this is the way he "feels about it," and that is the authoritative basis for his work, so it seems.

My Vaishnava Sisters and Brothers: I have known Dravida for decades, and have even utilized his editing capabilities for various projects in the distant past. He is very capable, but I will insist that he is very capable ONLY under the direction of the author and not independently of the author. And this is especially the case when he is dealing with Śrīla Prabhupāda's precious vāni. 

I get very concerned when I read words like those quoted above, because there is no real sense of working in conjunction with other devotees who are truly knowledgeable and experienced. His words are those of someone alone in a vacuum, not in the mood of saṃkīrtaṇam, in my opinion.

My hope is that, one day, Dravida will see the wisdom of working with truly thoughtful and knowledgeable devotees who are even more trained and experienced than he is in the worthy quest for satisfying Śrīla Prabhupāda's desires for editing his books which are already aligned with professional standards! Only then, will Dravida know, if he has Śrīla Prabhupāda's approval––it is only through the hearts of devotees that we can know whether we have pleased the spiritual master.

Dāso 'smi premni,
Garuḍa Dāsa