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.”