Present Krishna's teachings as they are, unaltered by interpretation, and they will transform hearts worldwide.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Prabhupāda: That Imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam [Bg 4.1]: "This science of Bhagavad-gītā, I spoke to the sun-god millions of years ago." By the calculation it is forty millions of years ago. Now who will believe that, that Kṛṣṇa spoke this Bhagavad-gītā forty millions of years ago to the sun-god? Hmm? Who will believe that?
They'll say mythology. So where is the faith in Bhagavad-gītā and faith in the words of Kṛṣṇa? Understanding Hamlet without Hamlet. [indistinct] You cannot make your interpretation that whatever is written there, I take instead of..., I take...
[coughing] That is not the way of understanding Bhagavad-gītā. Then from the very beginning you'll spoil it. Then what is the meaning of preaching Bhagavad-gītā? If you do not accept the direction of the author, then what right you have got to say that you have understood Bhagavad-gītā? Śrīman Nārāyaṇa: Could it be that there may be different interpretations? Prabhupāda: No, that is not possible.
That is not the process. You cannot interpret Bhagavad-gītā. If you want to preach Bhagavad-gītā, you must preach what Kṛṣṇa has said. If you have got a different philosophy, you can say differently.
You don't cheat people that you take Bhagavad-gītā and interpret in your own way and cheat others and be cheated yourself. You cannot do that. Śrīman Nārāyaṇa: Well, for example, Tilak Maharaja... Prabhupāda: Tilak may be, Gandhi may be, whoever may be. But the point is that you have to understand Bhagavad-gītā according to the direction of the author. Because you are Mr.
Tilak or Mr. Gandhi, you can do everything on Bhagavad-gītā... Śrīman Nārāyaṇa: No, no, that is not the idea. But there are different type ślokas. Prabhupāda: Now how you have got a different types of... Let me explain.
Just like the Bhagavad-gītā begins, dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ [Bg 1.1]. So dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre, how you can interpret in a different way? Kurukṣetra is already there. But how you can interpret, "Kurukṣetra means this, Kurukṣetra means that"?