Who Changed Prabhupada's Books? Inside the Editing Controversy w/Dr Graham Schweig (Garuda Das) PhD

Описание: What happens when an author leaves this world—and other people decide their words need “improving”?

In this episode of the 8th Element Podcast, we sit down with Graham Schweig, PhD (professor of religion & philosophy; Harvard-trained scholar and author) to unpack one of the most sensitive integrity questions any spiritual community can face: posthumous editing.
Using a Bob Dylan story as a “crude example” (draft recordings released without consent), we explore why the issue isn’t just grammar—it’s authority, moral rights, transparency, and legacy. When editors change translations and commentaries after the author is gone, are readers still receiving the original voice… or someone else’s lens?

We get into:
Why “making the author consistent” can erase paradox, texture, and intent
The difference between correcting typos vs changing meaning
Why an annotated edition is a respectful alternative to rewriting
How institutional pressure can create entitlement—and silence debate
The long-term stakes: what future generations inherit as “the real thing”

If you’ve ever wondered how truth gets preserved—or quietly rewritten—this conversation will challenge you.

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Chapters (Timestamps)
0:00 – The Bob Dylan analogy: “Don’t publish my drafts”
2:13 – 8th Element Podcast intro + name change clarification
3:44 – Who is Graham Schweig, PhD? (background + credibility)
5:05 – The core issue: posthumous editing and moral rights
7:16 – The tension: preserve legacy vs “update/improve” it
8:20 – Why this became personal: discovering the scale of edits
10:18 – “It’s not about sense—it’s what he wrote”
12:57 – The turning point: inside the editing mindset
14:59 – Ontological vs existential: why one line mattered
16:19 – “We’re reading through their brain now”
18:15 – Potency question: do edited books still transform lives?
22:47 – The transparency problem: changes without disclosure
24:45 – Why “return to original manuscripts” is a false argument
27:07 – The solution: annotated editions, not rewrites
29:30 – 4-part summary: authority, overreach, standards, transparency
31:06 – Prabhupada’s editing instructions: “No more changes”
34:56 – The danger of elevating editors into unquestionable authority
38:09 – Examples of meaning shifts + loss of poetic power
44:02 – Future generations: what happens when purity is questioned?
46:45 – Why no public debate? The motives behind resistance
49:36 – The behind-the-scenes meetings + institutional dynamics
1:01:12 – “Worker for hire” claim and what it signals
1:11:10 – Modern parallels: culture pressure + rewriting language
1:17:52 – Scholar conference consensus: preserve the original text
1:18:23 – What an annotated edition actually is (and why it works)
1:35:34 – How this gets resolved (scholarship vs legal channels)
1:41:45 – Showing the books + closing principle: preserve sanctity
1:47:31 – 3 things we can never assume about what the author “would’ve wanted”
1:49:00 – Final gratitude + closing

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