The Scholar's Gambit

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 09:01:00 +0200

How an academic solution reproduces the problem it diagnoses.

I read this book twice. Once out of genuine interest — the editing of Prabhupāda’s books has been an open wound in ISKCON for decades, and here, finally, was a Lexington Books volume with twelve scholars and actual academic weight behind the argument. The second time I read it slower, with a growing unease I could not immediately name.

In February 2020, fourteen academics had gathered at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. The Flora Lamson Hewlett Library. Good coffee, leather chairs. The conference was organized by Graham M. Schweig — Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies, doctorate from Harvard, author of his own Bhagavad-gītā translation, editor of Tamal Krishna Goswami’s posthumous thesis. Also an initiated disciple of the man whose books were under discussion, though you would not guess it from the way he talks about him.

The Annotator's Dilemma

Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Graham sat across from the editor in the BBT offices in Los Angeles. The editor, Dravida, had just explained why he changed a passage about the soul and the marginal potency: it didn’t make sense to him.

Graham asked a question that would alter the course of his next seven years: “Are we supposed to be reading Prabhupada’s books according to what you can think of or what you can’t think of?”

Arsha Prayoga on Light of Dharma Publishing

The Scholar's Gambit

How an academic solution reproduces the problem it diagnoses.

The Annotator's Dilemma