In his small apartment during the very early hours of the morning, Srila Prabhupada wrote the preface to the forthcoming edition of Bhagavad-gita As It Is. The Macmillan company had agreed to print the unabridged manuscript. The contract had been signed, the book was being prepared for printing; only the preface remained to be written.
When the Bhagavad-gita As It Is was first published, the original manuscript had been cut short to less than 400 pages, without illustrations and without explanations for most of the original verses of the Bhagavad-gita. But demand for the Bhagavad-gita considerably increased, and many scholars and devotees requested Prabhupada to present the book in its original form. Macmillan Books had agreed to publish the complete edition.
In the preface, Prabhupada wrote that he was publishing the full Gita manuscript "to establish the Krsna Consciousness movement more soundly and progressively". Although he was known for starting the Krsna consciousness movement in America, Prabhupada wrote "the original father of this movement is Lord Krsna Himself". Giving all credit for his own achievements to his spiritual master, Prabhupada said that the only qualification he himself had was that he had tried to present Bhagavad-gita As It Is without adulteration. As most of Sydney slept, Prabhupada continued to write:
Instead of satisfying his own personal material senses, he [the devotee] has to satisfy the senses of the Lord. That is the highest perfection of life. The Lord wants this, and He demands it. One has to understand this central point of Bhagavad-gita. Our Krishna Consciousness movement is teaching the whole world this central point. Because we are not polluting the theme of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, anyone seriously interested in deriving benefit by studying the Bhagavad-gita must take help from the Krishna Consciousness movement for practical understanding of the Bhagavad-gita under the direct guidance of the Lord. We hope, therefore, that people will derive the greatest benefit by studying Bhagavad-gita As It Is, as we have presented it here, and if even one man becomes a pure devotee of the Lord, we shall consider our attempt a success.
- From "The Great Transcendental Adventure" by HG Kurma Prabhu
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