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Bhaktivedanta Book Publishing Controversy

It is believed, according to many followers of Swami Bhaktivedanta, that Bhagavad-Gītā As It Is (as well as the entire collection of books by the author) have been changed by the publishers, "The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust", many times since the passing away of the author, fueling a significant controversy among his original followers. While the edits can be argued to be of apparent accuracy in line with the original Sanskrit of certain words, as well as some clear English grammatical errors in the original "As It Is" version, many original followers of the author insist that the edited nuances collectively give a totally different spin to the author's unique presentation and positioning of the Bhagavad Gita philosophy of 'creation' and 'divine relationship' elucidated in the "As It Is" version. Among these are subtle (and allegedly not so subtle) nuances in the edits such as changing the word "Aether", in the philosophy's elemental construction of the Universe, into the words "sky" and "space" in various places—to name one such change of many—throughout the entire collection of "Swami Bhaktivedanta's" published writings. Followers argue that while these editorial changes may in some cases align to the strict meaning in context with the original Sanskrit, the author's artistic license to present his unique, poetic, scientific presentation and positioning for his intended demographical audience, as well as the copyright, have been violated.

The controversy over the 'book changes' and argued philosophical digressions by "The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust" fueled a splintering of the original group of many thousands of followers into various groups. In 2014, four decades after the "As It Is" controversy began, the "The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust" continues to defend its claim to editorial rights on the Internet with apparent transparency and accountability for each of their editorial changes and nuances in arguable granular detail, at http://bbtedit.com/changes.

Alternatively, detailed documentation from many followers challenging the validity of the book changes, can be found in equally granular details at sites such as, http://arsaprayoga.com and http://bookchanges.com. Followers on both sides of the controversy insist that they other side is extremist, while those followers in the center believe that these issues are merely details in a much larger cosmic phisophical picture. Those followers who choose neither side in the controversy express that both extreme sides may have missed the major points enunciated by "Bhaktivedanta Swami", yet maintain that, "The changes that fueled this controversy should not have taken place to being with."

The original versions of the books by "Swami Bhaktivedanta" can be found online athttp://krishnastore.com/books-srila-prabhupada-om-21_38.html and http://prabhupadabooks.com. The edited versions of the author's books can be found at http://store.krishna.com/Page.bok?template=Shops_Books, http://www.vedabase.com and http://www.bbt.info.