The key lies in the preposition. The preposition makes all the difference. In the Original Transcript (OT), we literally read: “Of all yoga practitioners, he who is always abiding by Me within Himself, great in faith, and rendering transcendental loving service unto Me, is the highest of all yogis.”

In the Bhagavad-gita As Is It NOT by Jayadvaita it becomes: “And of all yogis, the one with great faith who always abides in Me, thinks of Me within himself……..” and in the Bhagavad-gita As It Is NOT by Hayagriva it becomes: ” And of all yogis, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service……..” Both versions are wrong and engender the same conditioned disease: Unwillingness to surrender to the Supreme Lord.

Now let us scutinizingly examine the following dictionary quote:

abide | əˈbʌɪd | verb1 [no object] (abide by) accept or act in accordance with (a rule, decision, or recommendation): I said I would abide by their decision. 2 [with object] (can/could not abide) informal be unable to tolerate (someone or something): if there is one thing I cannot abide it is a lack of discipline. 3 [no object] (of a feeling or memory) continue without fading or being lost: at least one memory will abide. • archaic live; dwell: many unskilful Men do abide in our City of London. 

We may conclude that “abide in” is an archaic verb and means live or dwell, which, figuratively, will make sense in the context of BGAII 6.47, even though we would rather not use archaisms.

BUT, BUT, BUT “abide in” represents a betrayal of the original text. There is no question of “abide in” here. The verb used is “abide by.” And what is the main connotation of “abide by?” The main connotation of “abide by” is TO OBEY. Just like on some T-shirts, we see only these four letters O, B, E and Y, which makes OBEY!!! An unequivocal message. This is confirmed in BGAII 2.41: “As such, to be well versed in Krsna consciousness one has to act firmly in obedience of the representative of Krsna and one should accept the instruction of the spiritual master as one’s mission of life.”

That means “obey” is the issue and not “dwelling.” But the editors have cleverly, surreptitiously and subversively avoided the issue by substituting “abide by” with the archaic “abide in” and thereby are misleading the whole world. This is a typical subterfuge of the conditioned soul. We are happy to pretend to rub shoulders with Krishna, but under no circumstances shall we surrender to the demands of Sri Krishna or the Spiritual Master. This is simply not possible. It is another illusion. It is another cheating process. Without undergoing the surrendering process, we shall never rub shoulders with Krishna, just as without accepting and surrendering to the university conditions we shall never become a graduate.

We suggest the final rendition for Bhagavad-gita As It Is 6.47 will be:

“Of all yoga practitioners, he who always abides by Me within himself with great faith and renders transcendental loving service unto Me, he is the highest of all yogis.”

We note that in Shastra, in most cases even the sternest messages are transmitted in an innocuous fashion, and as much as destinies are subsequently made. It is up to the reader or hearer to evaluate the situation properly. A good example is the exchange between Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Vallabhacarya: Caitanya Caritamrta, Antya Lila, Chapter 7, entitled Lord Caitanya meets Vallabha Bhatta. No boisterous verbal exchanges here. But “Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu smilingly replied, “One who does not accept the svami [husband] as an authority I consider a prostitute.” CC Antya 7.115

This editorial problem was spotted at 4 AM on the 18 day of April 2022. And consequently, I almost came late for Mangal Aratik. And in Deity worship punctuality is crucial and essential. But when I arrived at the Brisbane ISKCON temple there was another problem. For some unknown reason, the temple floor was unusually dirty and the head pujari also expressed her disappointment and lassitude for this type of problem. It is the responsibility of those who dirtied the floor the previous night, or their supervisors in the case of children, to leave the place in a spotless condition. Please oblige and have some consideration for the Mangal Arati pujaris and attendants as well.  

I repeat it again and again and again: strictly speaking, none of these two versions of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita qualifies to be called Bhagavad-gita As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. These are mere shadows of Bhagavad-gita As It Is and we are standing on shaky and unstable grounds. Both versions are too far removed from Srila Prabhupada’s original intentions, which are best reflected in the Original Transcript, (OT). This OT document however, or at least some parts of it, for various reasons are not easy to handle at all. It can be found here: https://bookchanges.com/bhagavad-gita-as-it-is-manuscript/. Thank you for your wisdom!