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Bhagavad-gita Revisions 14.10
From Jayadvaita Swami
Posted May 1, 2003

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
All glories to
Srila Prabhupada!

[From the "Gita Revisions Explained" conference on pamho.net]

14.10:

rajas tamas cabhibhuya
sattvam bhavati bharata
rajah sattvam tamas caiva
tamah sattvam rajas tatha

rajah—the mode of passion; tamah— the mode of ignorance; ca— also; abhibhuya— surpassing; sattvam— the mode of goodness; bhavati— becomes prominent; bharata— O son of Bharata; rajah— the mode of passion; sattvam— the mode of goodness; tamah— the mode of ignorance; ca— also; eva— like that; tamah— the mode of ignorance; sattvam— the mode of goodness; rajah— the mode of passion; tatha— thus.

First Edition:

Sometimes the mode of passion becomes prominent, defeating the mode of goodness, O son of Bharata. And sometimes the mode of goodness defeats passion, and at other times the mode of ignorance defeats goodness and passion. In this way there is always competition for supremacy.

Second Edition:

Sometimes the mode of goodness becomes prominent, defeating the modes of passion and ignorance, O son of Bharata. Sometimes the mode of passion defeats goodness and ignorance, and at other times ignorance defeats goodness and passion. In this way there is always competition for supremacy.

Manuscript: (Obviously edited. Identical to the First Edition, except that "and at other times" reads "and again," and "there is always" reads "there is ever.")

Comments:

Now, let's look at that First Edition again:

"Sometimes the mode of passion becomes prominent, defeating the mode of goodness, O son of Bharata. [Doesn't it also defeat the mode of ignorance?] And sometimes the mode of goodness defeats passion [Again, not ignorance too?], and at other times the mode of ignorance defeats goodness and passion [Right!]. . . . "

In the old version, goodness and passion duke it out—but ignorance seems to stand on the sidelines, unmentioned. Ignorance shows up only when it defeats the other two.

But—clearly—that's not how the Sanskrit has it.

As Srila Prabhupada says in his purport:

"When the mode of passion is prominent, the modes of goodness and ignorance are defeated. When the mode of goodness is prominent, passion and ignorance are defeated. And when the mode of ignorance is prominent, passion and goodness are defeated. This competition is always going on."

Exactly!

Hare Krsna.

Website

Interested in the differences between the first and second editions of Bhagavad-gita As It Is? You'll find more than 150 examples at this address:

www.krishna.com/newsite/GitaRevsExplained.html

There you'll see the published versions side by side with the text of the original manuscripts. And the graphic format of the web helps you see at a glance what the revisions are and where they're coming from.

For anyone who has concerns about the editing of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, this is a must-see.

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This is an "information-only" conference, not a discussion conference. The only person who can post texts to it is me. (Queries and comments may be sent to me privately.)

The conference is public. If you are a member of the PAMHO e-mail system, you can join or leave it on your own—no need to send a request to the Sysop or to me. E-mail users who are not on PAMHO can join or leave the conference by sending me a request at <jayadvaita.swami@pamho.net>.

The First and Second Editions of Bhagavad-gita As It Is are © 1972, 1983 by The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. Except where I have included quotations from non-BBT sources, the rest of this message, and of the conference as a whole, is © 1999-2003 by The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc. All rights reserved.

Hare Krsna.

dipika.org May 1, 2003

 

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