mandag den 3. september 2012

Den originale Bhagavad-gita: 1968-udgaven

Jeg ser, at der er flere her, der omtaler 1972-udgaven som Prabhupadas ’oprindelige’ eller ’originale’ Bhagavad-gita. Dette er faktisk ikke korrekt. Den første Bhagavad-gita udkom i 1968, den såkaldte forkortede udgave fra MacMillan. Da salget viste sig at gå godt, gik MacMillan senere med at til at udgive en uforkortet udgave, 1972-udgaven.

Det interessante er, at selv om 1968-udgaven var forkortet, indeholdt den ting, som ikke er at finde i 1972-udgaven. Et eksempel er det første afsnit i kommentaren til 9.26 (”If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.”). Her er, hvad du går glip af, hvis du insisterer på at læse 1972-udgaven, men som blev genindsat i 1983-udgaven:

” For the intelligent person, it is essential to be in Krishna consciousness, engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, in order to achieve a permanent, blissful abode for eternal happiness. The process of achieving such a marvelous result is very easy and can be attempted even by the poorest of the poor, without any kind of qualification. The only qualification required in this connection is to be a pure devotee of the Lord. It does not matter what one is or where one is situated. The process is so easy that even a leaf or a little water or fruit can be offered to the Supreme Lord in genuine love and the Lord will be pleased to accept it. No one, therefore, can be barred from Krishna consciousness, because it is so easy and universal. Who is such a fool that he does not want to be Krishna conscious by this simple method and thus attain the highest perfectional life of eternity, bliss and knowledge? Krishna wants only loving service and nothing more. Krishna accepts even a little flower from His pure devotee. He does not want any kind of offering from a nondevotee. He is not in need of anything from anyone, because He is self-sufficient, and yet He accepts the offering of His devotee in an exchange of love and affection. To develop Krishna consciousness is the highest perfection of life. Bhakti is mentioned twice in this verse in order to declare more emphatically that bhakti, or devotional service, is the only means to approach Krishna. No other condition, such as becoming a brahmana, a learned scholar, a very rich man or a great philosopher, can induce Krishna to accept some offering. Without the basic principle of bhakti, nothing can induce the Lord to agree to accept anything from anyone. Bhakti is never causal. The process is eternal. It is direct action in service to the absolute whole.”

Hvad skyldes udeladelsen af dette afsnit i 1972-udgave? Prabhupadas ønske eller redaktørens brøler? Redaktøren var i dette tilfælde Hayagriva, der arbejdede videre på manuskriptet efter udgivelsen af 1968-udgaven og klargjorde det til 1972-udgaven.

Med andre ord sidder jeg her og undrer mig over, om der virkelig er nogen, der i fuldt alvor tror på, at Srila Prabhupada ikke ville have denne nektariske tekst med så mange essentielle filosofiske pointer med i sin Bhagavad-gita?