The World Goes “Back to Godhead”, by Madhava Smullen

Back to Godhead magazine was Srila Prabhupada’s first step towards fulfilling his Guru’s order to preach Krishna consciousness in English. Now, years later, his disciples have taken his beloved magazine and brought it beyond the English-speaking market, just as he did with his books and teachings.
With last year’s Vyasa Puja book reporting over 90,000 copies printed in Europe and 600,000 in India, it’s been a slow but sure sucess.
India
BTG has been published in many Indian languages, including Marathi, Hindi, Bengali, and Gujarati since the early seventies. But when former editor Jayadvaita Swami established offices in Mumbai in the early nineteen-nineties, he took things to the next level. “The offices bustle with energy,” says Murari Gupta, writer at Bhagavad Darshan, BTG’s Hindi branch, “And our staff are varied and dedicated.” It’s an understatement. Try Shyamananda Dasa, editor of the English edition, who also translates Prabhupada’s books into Marathi and fulfills temple president duties. Or Vamsi Vihari Dasa, who triples as proofreader, translator and writer, while moonlighting as pujari and flower decorator. But Marathi edition Jau Devachiya Gava, or “Go back to the abode of God,” has possibly the most colorful staff in its sole member Vrindavan Kishor Dasa, translator, writer, and yes, national gold medalist gymnast.
BTG’s Indian editions only have 32 pages compared to the US edition’s 68. But audiences receive twice as many issues, and respond with enthusiasm.
“We set up a BTG stall at Nasik Kumbha Mela in 2005,” Murari Gupta says. “Unfortunately, people were more interested in a loinclothed yogi doing complex yoga right beside us. But when we announced over our PA system that Bhakti yoga was the highest and could instill love of Godhead, the yogi himself took a copy, put it on a stand in front of him, and continued doing his
performance. Immediately, people started buying BTG, and by the end of the day we had distributed 10,000, copies. Throughout the whole event, we distributed 50,000 copies.”

Prabhupada selling BTGs...

What are we doing?

Are we doing something to make BTG as big and famous as TIME Magazine?

Back to Godhead—the words appeared in chunky letters, arranged in the style of a banner. Back to what? Why such a strange and technical word? Why not just God? Why not just Krishna? Or why not a friendlier, more congenial title altogether?
Again it seems that Srila Prabhupada had something particular to say. This was to be not a magazine just about God, the Supreme Lord on high, but about Godhead: the Absolute Truth, the supreme reality, the ultimate source of everything. That ultimate truth was God, all right, but God understood both personally and philosophically. It was God as Krishna—but Krishna not as a hero, or a symbol, or a myth, but Krishna understood deeply, in truth.
Back to Godhead was to deal with what Srila Prabhupada called the science of Krishna, a science he had learned from his spiritual master. And so Srila Prabhupada placed a picture of his spiritual master in the logo too, at the lower right-hand corner.
And finally a slogan: "Godhead is light. Nescience is darkness. Where there is Godhead there is no nescience." Nescience—not the commonest of words either. But that was it. Nescience—darkness, ignorance, not knowing—as to be dispelled by knowledge, by light, by Godhead.
After Back to Godhead came to the West and Srila Prabhupada put his disciples in charge of it, we made some changes: New artwork of Lord Chaitanya and the people facing him replaced the original crude silhouettes. A picture of Srila Prabhupada replaced that of his spiritual master. But we've always kept the original idea.
It's not what anyone would come up with at a New York graphic design shop. It doesn't get the nod from our friend the marketing wiz. It may look too naive, too fervent, too evangelical. But it's the logo Srila Prabhupada gave us, a logo with a lot to say.

How it all started...

His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada began publication of Back to Godhead magazine from his home in Calcutta in 1944. The Second World War was in progress, and the Japanese were bombing Calcutta. There was rationing of essential war supplies, and the government at first refused his request for paper for printing. But he was persistent, his request was finally granted, and in the second issue of the magazine, with veiled sarcasm, he thanked the government for their enlightened attitude toward such a spiritual publication.
Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual vision was uncompromising. The magazine would contain only the transcendental messages of the great sages of India, especially Lord Chaitanya, and his duty would be simply to repeat them, according to time and circumstance in the present age. He would not manufacture anything, and so his words would descend as transcendental sound to guide people back to Godhead. He admitted that the subject matter, being from a totally different sphere of consciousness, might seem dry to his readers, but said that anyone who actually gave attention to the message would benefit.Notwithstanding the humble circumstances surrounding the beginning of the magazine, Srila Prabhupada’s goals and vision were nothing less than the salvation of the entire world.