View source for 720919 - Letter to Jayadvaita from Pradyumna

[[Category:Letters From Srila Prabhupada's Secretaries and ISKCON Officers]]

September 19, 1972

From Pradyumna dasa - SL_720919_A

Dear Jayadvaita,

Please accept my humble obeisances. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of September 10 which was received by me here in Los Angeles after being forwarded from Dallas. In reply to your points: Point 1—the synonyms of 4.13.49 are enclosed, plus transliteration. Point 2—Please check very carefully about 3.15.29. I sent a letter to you before and I asked you to check if it was missing or not, and you replied to me that it was. I believe some of the verses were misnumbered and this particular verse was left out. Anyway please check and with Nitai's help, check the transliteration and see that there's not a text missing. About point 3, 1-7, Chapter 14, Fourth Canto, are enclosed. I'm sure I enclosed them the first time but I have enclosed another copy. Point 4—I prefer to see the transliterations here before they are sent for composing because although Dhrstaketu knows how to transliterate very well, he doesn't know how to break up words with dashes, etc., so I really feel nervous about having the verses composed before checking them, because ultimately I am responsible for every mistake in the Sanskrit work in the book, so that is why I started including the transliterations with the current work that you are receiving. However, if transliterations are already typed out, if he could send me the transliterations of the texts of Chapters 4.15, 16, and 17, plus the next few chapters of current work, I can make editing changes on his work. That would be a great help. About Point 5, yes, I send copies of all work simultaneously to both you and Hayagriva. He has received everything that you have received to date.

Here's an important point: Srila Prabhupada was looking at the new edition of Second Canto the other day and he called me up because he had found some mistakes. The first mistake was in the first verse of the Third Chapter. 

There the first line of the Devanagari script is placed last, and the last line is placed first. I don't know how this mistake has occurred; in the Second Canto chapter books there is no mistake, so this must have occurred during layout sometime. The second mistake is in Second Canto, Fifth Chapter, 24th verse. There, in both the old edition and the new edition, the middle line of Devanagari script is missing. Prabhupada said that if there is one mistake in one book, then you spoil the whole book. Murder the whole book. So also besides Sanskrit errors, there have been many, many English errors also, which; are very obvious, just like these two above-mentioned errors, so Prabhupada has been emphasizing lately about the great need for making our books free from errors. "What's done has been done"* but now we should try to do two things: make sure that errors like these won't occur again, and start a listing of past mistakes in each book so that we can correct them when they are reprinted. Concerning these two Sanskrit errors, one was not noted down before the new reprint was made I think there should be a blueprint made of each book before it goes to press because then the editors will know for sure that there weren't any errors made in layout or that something fell off. These are just my suggestions. Of course I am ab(out) the most faulty person about, but we have to do something to eliminate all errors in the book.

*Srila Prabhupada

Hoping to hear from you about this. I hope you are receiving everything in order and that the pages aren't too messy. I try to keep everything as neat as possible. Hope everything is going well. Give my obeisances to everyone. 

I am your most fallen servant.

Pradyumna das Adhikari

P.S. Also enclosed find Dictation #31, cont., from Text 4.24.44 to Text 4.24.46 (six pages), plus transliteration, and also some of Srila Prabhupada's hair.