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John Lennon, September 11, 1969, London, Tittenhurst:
I’ve read bits of the Bhagavad-gita. I don’t know which version it was. There’s so many different translations.
Prabhupada: There are different translations. Therefore I have given this edition, Bhagavad-gita As It Is. There are interpretations. In many translations they have got interpretations. Not only in other parts of the world, but in our own country also. Just like Mahatma Gandhi. He was a great man. He has also interpreted. But the point is interpretation where required. Now, here is a fountain pen box. Everyone knows this is a fountain pen box. But if I say, “No, this is something else.” That is my interpretation. Is that very nice thing? Similarly, interpretation is required when things are not understood clearly. If everybody can understand this box is a fountain pen box, where is the necessity of interpretation? This is the first thing. So Bhagavad-gita is so clear. It is just like sunlight. Sunlight does not require any other lamp. For example, I’ll give you, in the first verse,
dharma-ksetre kuru-ksetre samaveta yuyutsavah mamakah pandavas caiva kim akurvata sanjaya [Bg. 1.1]
The, dhrtarastra uvaca. The father of Duryodhana is asking his secretary, Sanjaya. His secretary’s name was Sanjaya. “Sanjaya, my boys…” Mamakah. Mamakah means “my sons,” and pandava, “the sons of my younger brother.” His younger brother’s name was Pandu, and therefore his sons are known as Pandava. So mamaka, pandava. “My sons and my younger brother’s sons, they assembled together for fighting.” Yuyutsava. Yuyutsava means “with fighting spirit.” And dharma-ksetre kuru-ksetre [Bg. 1.1], on the place known as Kuruksetra, which is a place of pilgrimage, dharma-ksetra. Kim akurvata: “After assembling there, what did they do?” That was his question. Now, this Kuruksetra place is still existing in India. You have been in India? No.
John Lennon: Have I been there?
Prabhupada: You have been there?
John Lennon: Yes. Not to that place. Hrishikesh we went to.
Prabhupada: Oh, Hrishikesh. Hrishikesh is also one of the pilgrimage. And there is similarly Kuruksetra near Delhi. Still that place is there. And that is a place of pilgrimage from the Vedic times. In the Vedas also it is stated, kuru-ksetre dharmam yajayet. If you want to function in a religious ceremony, just go to Kuruksetra. So it is a place of pilgrimage. Now the name is there. The adjective dharma-ksetra, it is from Vedic age. Then the Pandavas and the Kauravas, they are historical persons. The history is there, Mahabharata. Then where is the question of interpreting Kuruksetra as “this body,” and the Pandavas as “the senses”? Where do you get this opportunity to interpret? So these things are going on. But we object, “Why should you interpret in that way when the facts are there?” That means Bhagavad-gita is very popular book. One has got his own philosophy. He wants to prove it through Bhagavad-gita. This is going on. There are so many interpretations, 664. Everyone thinks that “I can interpret in my own way.” Why? Why this should be? We say, “No. You cannot interpret.” Then what is the authority of Bhagavad-gita? The author of Bhagavad-gita did not leave it for being interpreted by a third-class man. He is Krishna, the Supreme Lord. He said everything clearly. Why an ordinary man should interpret His word? That is our objection. Therefore we present Bhagavad-gita As It Is. The MacMillan Company wanted to shorten. Because they are merchants. They wanted to minimize. Otherwise the book was very big. They wanted to make it only four hundred. Therefore half of the slokas was not nicely explained. But next time we are going to publish in large and revised edition of Bhagavad-gita As It Is. We must explain everything. So the Bhagavad-gita is very, very high-class philosophy and theology. Social, political, science—everything is there. It is very nice. And everything is clear. It is explained by Krishna. So this Krishna consciousness movement means to present Bhagavad-gita as it is. That’s all. We have not manufactured anything.