Srila Prabhupada's Audio Legacy
BY: ROCANA DASA
Dec 8, CANADA (SUN) — Those readers who have been following my Talks With the Sampradaya Acarya series will be familiar with the fact that I've been quite focused of late listening to the audio files of Srila Prabhupada's morning walks and room conversations. These tapes hold a tremendously valuable legacy of instruction from Srila Prabhupada, and enable us to stay absorbed in Srila Prabhupada's very personal presence.
I find it really helpful to simultaneously listen to these audio files while reading the Folio transcripts of the conversations, and I often quote the text in my Talks articles. Early on, I became aware of the many discrepancies between the audio and text versions. The more I read and listened, the more I discovered important segments of tape that were transcribed to text, but could not be found on the audio disks. Likewise, I've identified many places where the audio is available, but passages are missing from the Folio texts.
Knowing that my Godbrothers Nrsimhananda dasa and Madhudvisa dasa are very involved in the business of Srila Prabhupada's digital media, I recently phoned them to see if they could shed any light on the situation. They informed me that one of the reasons behind the chunks of missing audio was the fact that back in the days of the Bhaktivedanta Tape Ministry, the audio engineers clipped taped conversations down so they would fit onto off-the-shelf cassette tape blanks that were typically 30, 60 or 90 minutes in length. If a given conversation exceeded the tape length, they apparently snipped out a portion they deemed least important or most problematic. In other words, if I am understanding correctly, the tape engineers essentially served as the editors, and decided what was and wasn't important to be included on the Tape Ministry's finished product.
The reason for the many discrepancies between the audio files and the text transcriptions is less clear. Unless the audio was significantly re-engineered sometime after the Folio transcriptions were made, it doesn't seem to be the case that text is missing because the tapes couldn't be heard clearly enough to transcribe them.
I assume that most of Srila Prabhupada's conversations and lectures were originally recorded onto reel-to-reel tapes, at least from the early years. Some of the later material may well have been recorded directly onto cassettes. Either way, Nrsimhananda and Madhudvisa prabhus explained to me that when the era of digital media arrived, there was an attempt made by the BBT to convert the Ministry cassette tapes over to digital files. Apparently the process of choosing what material was to be converted was also selectively done by BBT staff. The first set of audio CD's we acquired were those released by the BBT in 1995, in CDM/WAV format. The BBT catalog for this collection lists 102 CD's.
Sometime later, the MP3 audio format became popular and with it came the ability to easily port audio over the Internet. To take advantage of this broadcast medium, the BBT converted the CDM/WAV collection over to MP3 format, releasing a 19 CD set of Srila Prabhupada's lectures from the original Tape Ministry. This set was upgraded and improved at one point.
Last year, Madhudvisa dasa facilitated an effort to reorganize and digitally re-master Srila Prabhupada's audio recordings, and thousands of hours were spent producing the most recently enhanced audio collection. This 24 CD set entitled the Srila Prabhupada MP3 Audio Library represents the complete audio from the Bhaktivedanta Tape Ministry, both original and new sets, comprised of the original Ministry tapes, CDM-1 through CDM-102, from 1995, along with music, lectures, conversations, japa, etc., including more than 200 new audio programs not previously released on MP3.
To the best of my knowledge, this is an accurate description of the history of Srila Prabhupada's audio material as it's been released to the marketplace. If there are any inaccuracies here, I hope someone will point out the corrections. In addition to my conversation with Nrsimhananda and Madhudvisa prabhus, I had a recent conversation with one of the staff members of the BBT Archives in Sandy Ridge, North Carolina, which is currently in charge of the media collection of Srila Prabhupada's vani.
Madhudvisa dasa made me aware of the fact that approximately 40% of the existing taped audio of Srila Prabhupada has never been converted from the original tapes and released in any audio format - not cassette, CDA/WAV, or MP3. This fact was generally confirmed by the devotee I talked with at the Archives. I can only say that I was absolutely stunned to hear this. The original tapes are apparently sitting in the Archives. At least some of them have been transcribed and the text was made available in the Folio. Given that they could be heard clearly enough for transcription, it seems obvious that with today's digital editing tools, even the poorest quality audio could be enhanced enough to make it accessible to an interested listener.
Naturally I asked why this work isn't being done, as it seems clear to me that this should be an ultra-high priority for ISKCON and the BBT. I was told it's just a matter of money. When I talked with them, the Archives said they need $50,000 just for audio engineering equipment, what to speak of the personnel to run it. Why the Archives couldn't buy time at an established engineering facility, I'm not sure, but a lack of resources was given as the reason why this work isn't being done. On their website, the Archives offers this explanation:
"While much has been done to access, catalog, preserve and perpetuate the audio programs, there remains a significant amount of material to be accessed, transferred, transcribed, proofread and preserved. Much of this remaining material is unidentified and has poor audio quality, which is the reason it remains undone. The main format for our preservation transfer* is DAT (digital audio tape), which was the technology available when we began our transfers from reel-to-reel to a standardized digital format. We are always looking for new more stable formats that will be easily accessible in the future. It may surprise you to know that the archival community is still recommending magnetic tape as a preservation format, much like microfilm is recommended as long term preservation format for documents. Magnetic tape in the reel to reel format can have a reasonable shelf life and the analog equipment needed for playback is simple in nature when compared to today's technology.
There is still a large backlog of transcribing work to be done. This requires at least one and preferably more dedicated transcriber or transcribers. It requires someone who is very familiar with the speaking voice and way of speaking and pronunciation of Srila Prabhupada (Hindi and Bengali included) to be employed full time for 4 years, preferably one of the previous BBT and archives transcribers. This work is NOT for a general typist but for a specialized individual/s. Similarly, proofreading needs to be carried out in English, Hindi, Bengali and Sanskrit. This is also very specialized work and very time consuming (2-3 years full-time).
The estimated cost of this project will be $500,000."
* There is no one standard format for long-term audio preservation without ongoing maintenance and re-transfer to an updated or new format in order to save the audio information.
It is inconceivable to me that for lack of a few hundred thousand dollars, or whatever the price tag, we are deprived of the recorded sound vibration of Lord Krsna's pure devotee, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. What could be more important than this? Just consider the amounts of money the devotees have put into all sorts of other projects over the years - building temples, putting on festivals, publishing the Lilamrta, what to speak of publishing personal biographies and memoirs, etc.
In the explanation above, the Archives indicates that trained personnel are required for the transcription work, and it seems obvious that these specialists were at one time engaged, but were let go. We can only wonder why funding wasn't made available to keep these individuals engaged until their work was completed.
I can understand the difficulties faced by the Archives in transcribing Srila Prabhupada's audio and being precise in translating the Sanskrit, Hindi, etc. so as to produce an accurate text transcription. What is not understandable, however, is why they have been unable to clean-up the audio enough to simply release a copy of the complete, unedited audio archive.
You would think that especially those persons who are managing ISKCON, and who are constantly promoting themselves to their supporters as being strict followers of the orders of the Spiritual Master, would be doing whatever it takes to publish and distribute the transcendental sound vibration coming from the lotus mouth of the Lord's pure devotee, the most recent Sampradaya Acarya in the Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Vaisnava line. This is the first time in the history of the Sampradaya that the Sampradaya Acarya's voice has been captured and can be technologically reproduced and distributed around the world, but this rare set of circumstances is hardly reflected in the reality that large portions of Srila Prabhupada's actual sound vibration are languishing on the shelf. So much money and effort has been put into the video elements, which were not stressed by Srila Prabhupada, what to speak of biographies and memoirs, yet we do not have full access to the audio content.
How can anyone think they're 100% in line with Srila Prabhupada's teachings and the parampara unless they're actually listening to Srila Prabhupada, and directly hearing all that he's had to say to us? To be able to hear his voice, his inflection, his emphasis, recognizing the voices of all the participating senior devotees - what could be more important than this?
Consider the fact that almost every day, Srila Prabhupada went on a morning walk. Now count the number of morning walk recordings that are actually available. I have not yet calculated the percentage, but it's just a fraction.
Yadubar dasa just finished production of a video DVD set which includes an audio track of the early disciples reminiscing about what went on behind the scenes of various videotaped moments with Srila Prabhupada. On that DVD set we heard Brahmanananda dasa inform us that Srila Prabhupada was so concerned about having everything he said taped, and especially his lectures, that he would stop talking when they had to change the reels so that nothing would be missed.
Since at least 1970, ISKCON leaders made sure there was always top quality audio equipment on hand. With recording devices like German Uher's in use, it's hard to understand how the audio quality could be so bad.
In the early days we cherished listening to the audio tapes that were made available. At the time there seemed to be a proper understanding that these tapes were extremely valuable and should be distributed to all the devotees. That sense of urgency obviously waned after Srila Prabhupada's departure. There's now a huge backlog of never-released audio content, and we must all make it a top priority to see that this treasure house is made available to the world.
I'd like to emphasize that I am in no way trying to denigrate whatsoever the sincere efforts of those personalities at the BBT and the Archives who have dedicated their lives to preserving Srila Prabhupada's legacy. In fact, without really investigating, from what I understand they have made tremendous personal sacrifices in accomplishing what they have. But frankly, it's not surprising that they just don't have enough resources to do their jobs properly, though I'm sure they're only too willing to do so.
It is the responsibility of all those who consider themselves dedicated followers of Srila Prabhupada to cooperate in finding out exactly what the state of affairs is in this regard, to identify what is needed, to put pressure on those who are in charge of Srila Prabhupada's resources, and to be certain that whatever it takes, this audio content is digitally re-mastered in its entirety and released post haste.
I have been told that HH Jayadvaita Swami has enlisted the help of the Archives staff to create a digital presentation justifying how/why his book changes were made. If that is true, to what degree are Archives resources being diverted in this direction, rather than being used to focus on completing the work on Srila Prabhupada's audio?
Consider what the cost must have been (and continues to be) to edit and change Srila Prabhupada's books. Undoubtedly a great deal of money has been spent on manpower and publishing costs in this dubious effort. Money was made available to produce the Memories of Srila Prabhupada set, what to speak of the sums of money used to produce the Abhay Charan television series. Two new DVD sets of re-mastered video footage are about to be released, yet we still don't have access to Srila Prabhupada's complete audio legacy. Does any of this make sense?
One would think the leaders of ISKCON would be engaged in a daily struggle with their minds, agonizing over whether or not they're doing things the way Srila Prabhupada would want them to be done. How is it possible that it has not come into their minds to remedy this situation?
Nothing enlivens me more than listening to a morning walk or room conversation with Srila Prabhupada as he talks personally with his disciples, preaching to a very select audience of his most confidential associates. Within that context, I find tremendous spiritual enlightenment. Many of my own misconceptions or undeveloped realizations have been fulfilled by listening to this content. To know that I'm deprived of such a great number of recorded conversations, that are just sitting there in the Archives for lack of resources, is maddening.
While I do not yet know what editorial protocols are in place for the BBT and/or the Archives with respect to Srila Prabhupada's audio content, I understand that there's a certain sense of proprietorship at play. I've heard it said that the Archives staff don't want to put out anything unedited, and they feel they have a right and an obligation to edit all the audio content. But who makes editorial decisions about what is cut? All this information needs to be fully and immediately disclosed.
We can understand that the science of archival preservation is complex, and the Archives must engage long-term in their study of the best methods of preservation. Planning for deterioration and the unavoidable obsolescence of audio technologies will be an ongoing area of concern. At the same time, it seems obvious that one of the easiest ways to ensure the longevity of digital material is to release it to the public. Such widespread distribution is not only a simple, inexpensive archival method, it also puts the material into the hands of the listeners who will benefit greatly as a result of having it. And while it may be true that the average devotee won't be likely to consume audio content that's very difficult to hear, we can be certain that dedicated devotee audiophiles will put a great deal of time and effort into carefully listening, re-mastering and providing text transcriptions of even the most challenging content. While such efforts may be imperfect, the results they produce are certainly better than nothing, and such temporary steps can eventually be replaced with precise, permanent solutions.
I believe that the disciples of Srila Prabhupada not only have a right to this information, they have a right of full access to ALL of Srila Prabhupada's vani legacy. While it's understandable that the BBT/Archives may wish to package digital sets of only the cleanest, top quality content, they must make available a complete, unedited version of the audio. Once their best efforts have been made to clean-up, optimize and re-master the audio, they must publish the complete, unedited audio archive regardless of how scratchy it may be.
We will then have an opportunity to match the unedited audio against what's written in the Folio, and see what we've missed all these years. As I've mentioned in Talks, I've not only found all sorts of mistakes in the text transcripts, I've found numerous instances where controversial statements by Srila Prabhupada have been edited out. Anyone who simply reads the Folio transcripts as they listen to the audio will find many errors and discrepancies without even looking for them. While the early transcription efforts may have been done in a rush, or by untrained people using inadequate equipment, there is no excuse for the work not to have been redone by now.
I don't know how people can sleep at night knowing this situation exists, and not making the correction of it their number one priority. Personally, I'm embarrassed to admit that it's taken me this long to realize that this state of affairs exists with Srila Prabhupada's audio. It speaks volumes about ISKCON leadership - and the GBC in particular -- that this wasn't resolved long ago. I for one would like to know who has been aware of this all along, why they haven't disclosed this state of affairs to the community at large, and why they have not been doing whatever it takes to fix it. Actions speak louder than words, and inaction speaks louder than any word.
For my part, I intend to make this issue a top priority, and will do whatever I can to help get a timely resolution. At the suggestion of my Godbrothers, Nrsimhananda and Madhudvisa, I'd like to begin the discovery process by offering the following list of questions. I urge our readers to think carefully about this whole situation, and to send me all the questions that come to their minds, that beg to be answered. With a clear picture of what needs to be learned, we can begin the process of asking our ISKCON leaders to disclose the answers and address this most urgent situation.
Your servant,
Rocana dasa
QUESTIONS ABOUT SRILA PRABHUPADA'S AUDIO LEGACY
- Who is ultimately responsible, both functionally and legally, for the care, preservation and publication of the audio?
- What is the relationship of the BBT and the Archives in this regard: how do they work together, what tasks are held or shared?
- Who is responsible for seeing that work on the audio content is adequately funded?
- what attempts have been made in the past, and what attempts are currently being made, to make these resources available?
- what decisions have been made about prioritization of projects that resulted in
this work not being done?
- How long have staff at the Archives been doing their service with the audio, and what exactly have they been doing over that period?
- What are the metrics:
- how many events (lectures, conversations, walks, etc.) have been recorded?
- how many units of audio media are in the Archives (original, edited and published), and what types (reels, cassettes, CD's, etc.)?
- how many hours are represented by each of the above categories?
- how many units have been converted from one format to another
- To what degree has existing audio content been acquired and archived?
- how many units and of what type are identified as being privately held?
- how many have been damaged, lost or destroyed?
- what resources are needed to reclaim these units?
- what is the protocol for ISKCON leaders turning over their privately held materials to the Archives?
- What archival protocols are in place for the care, handling, storage, and assessment of the audio content?
- What engineering protocols are in place for the review, restoration, re-mastering and reproduction of the content?
- what are currently understood to be the requirements for publishing a complete re-mastered library of audio content (what's needed)?
- What editorial protocols are in place for reviewing, judging, and cutting or including content in published collections?
- who makes the decisions?
- how are the decision makers chosen?
- by what oversight process are they managed by the GBC?
- who authorized all the various editorial decisions across the audio publishing timeline?
- is there a legend or log of edits that have been made up to now?
- by what method was it determined that audio content was clear enough to be transcribed, yet not clear enough to be published?
- what methodology was employed in tracking what content was published in audio vs. text, and how were the two synced?
