After Srila Prabhupada passed away, the BBT editorial staff continued to notice and correct editorial discrepancies in Srila Prabhupada’s books. Many of these were brought to light by ISKCON devotees, especially those serving as BBT translators.32 (The BBT has translated books by Srila Prabhupada into some eighty-five languages.) As during Srila Prabhupada’s presence, the BBT continued to correct minor editorial errors routinely, without giving notice.
But again as in Srila Prabhupada’s time, for some books more extensive revisions seemed needed. Thus in 1979 the BBT trustees resolved: “Harikesa Swami will discuss with Satsvarupa Goswami and Jayadvaita Swami about the necessary corrections in original manuscripts such as Bhagavad-gita As It Is (complete ed), 3rd canto, etc.”33
My review of Bhagavad-gita As It Is turned up editorial errors and omissions extensive enough to warrant a second edition. And so, after extensive consultation with senior ISKCON devotees, the second edition was published in 1983.34
For The Nectar of Devotion I did a light revision, published by the BBT in 1982. Probably the most prominent feature of this second edition was some adjustment to the structure of the chapters. Several of Srila Prabhupada’s original chapters had been large, so Rayarama had broken them down, at somewhat arbitrary intervals, into chapters of a comfortable size.35 While revising the book, I found that some chapter titles and section titles mismatched their contents,36 and some chapters began in the midst of a topic, rather than before or after. I renamed and redivided accordingly. The second edition also included an appendix that showed where the “waves” of Srila Rupa Gosvami’s “Ocean of Devotional Service” had their places in Srila Prabhupada’s summary study.
In 1993, Dravida Dasa revised Sri Isopanishad, comparing the first and second American editions with the original text Srila Prabhupada had published in 1960 in his Back to Godhead. Again, Dravida recovered extensive passages that earlier editions had lost.37 In 1996 the BBT also published second editions of the “Krishna Book” and Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, both revised by Dravida Dasa, who corrected errors and included passages earlier omitted.38 For Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, also, many geographical place names fussily Sanskritized by the editors of the first edition were rendered in the vernacular forms by which the places are actually known.
In the mid-1990s the BBT published a second edition of Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers, edited by a less experienced BBT editor. Because readers of this edition pointed out numerous editorial discrepancies, the BBT directors resolved in 2002 that Dravida Dasa will review the book before its next printing. Either he will correct the discrepancies, or the BBT will revert to the first edition.
Apart from the books mentioned here as having been revised, all of Srila Prabhupada’s books continue to be published only in their original editions, with only occasional minor corrections for typographical and other such errors. So, for example, the Srimad-Bhagavatam from the Second Canto onwards continues to be published only in its original BBT edition.39
Because translators, indexers, and other readers who intensively study Srila Prabhupada’s books continue to turn up suspected editorial errors, the BBT provides an e-mail address to which such errors may be sent: errors.english.books@pamho.net. As a matter of policy the BBT editors, mindful of Srila Prabhupada’s instructions, resist changes. But verified editorial errors are corrected in later printings or editions. This policy has brought the BBT some outspoken criticism, much of it, unfortunately, uncivil and badly uninformed.40 An extended response to such criticism stands beyond the scope of this article.41