The word prādhānyataḥ (principal) is significant. The word “principal” (prādhānyataḥ) is significant. Use quotation marks, however, when needed to make clear that the bracketed or parenthetical words are meant to provide a translation rather than an editorial explanation. For example, in a translation: Let us consider the word “mahā-muni-kṛte” [“written by the great sage”]. Keep parentheses when they enclose words that are part of the original text. For example: In the Chāndogya Upaniṣad it is said: “Sir, I have studied the Ṛg Veda, the Veda, the Sāma Veda, the Atharva Veda (the fourth), and the (the fifth Veda).” Here “the fourth” and “the fifth Veda” are enclosed in parentheses rather than brackets because these words are part of the original Chāndogya Upaniṣad text. When you want to retain quotation marks—for example, to mark a translation as literal—an alternative is to dispense with the parentheses and use commas or dashes instead, thus: Śruti, “what has been heard,” refers to eternal revealed scripture received by ṛṣis in meditation and passed down orally through unbroken lines of teachers and disciples. See also: . Brahman / brahma By bbt convention, when referring to the Absolute Truth we make Brahman cap roman and retain the final n. (In the days before diacritics, that final n helped distinguish Brahma the Absolute Truth from Brahmā the secondary creator.) Note that the word is pronounced with both syllables equally accented or with the accent on the first. When the word applies to the jīva, our style is lower-case italic, without the final n. When the word is used simply to mean spirit and is applied to both the Lord and the living entity, use lower-case italic for both. Purāṇa
Catuḥsana (the four Sanas) Cap roman. A name for the . Causal Ocean Caps. cause to Śrīla Prabhupāda often used “cause to” where a more natural choice for most English speakers would be “make.” would try to cause them to break their vows [make them break] his intrusion. . . would irritate her and cause her to become angry with him [make her angry] "I cause him to forget all material desires.” [make him forget] For writers other than Śrīla Prabhupāda, consider revising. (Keep in mind, though, that “cause to” is sometimes the best choice.) cent per cent One hundred percent. The phrase cent per cent, still current in India, is outmoded in America and Britain. Chhattisgarh A state in central India formed on November 1, 2009, from a southeastern region of Madhya Pradesh. chastise A previous version of this style guide admonished that chastise properly applies only to physical punishment. That was overly strict. All our American dictionaries say it can also mean “rebuke, censure, or criticize severely.” Still, the first definition in all those dictionaries involves physical punishment. The oed, too, says that chastise means to inflict suffering or punishment, especially corporal (and it labels the meaning “reprove, rebuke, censure” obsolete). Back in 1968, S.I. Hayakawa wrote in Use the Right Word: A Modern Guide to Synonyms, “Chastise would now strike most ears as an outdated euphemism for physically punishing an inferior: a hickory stick on the desk with which to chastise unruly students.” For a verbal dressing down, we continue to recommend words like rebuke, reproach, scold, upbraid, chide, and reprimand.
follow in the footsteps Śrīla Prabhupāda may say “follow the footprints,” but the standard idiom is follow in the footsteps. (And that in is required.) By the way: Instead of follow in the footsteps, how about just plain follow? foodstuffs Why not just food? forbear / forebear Forbear (a verb) means “hold back,” “refrain,” or “tolerate.” Forebear (a noun) means “an ancestor.” forego / forgo Forego means go before. Forgo means abstain or renounce. Forgo forgoes the e. foreswear / forswear Forswear the e. Foreword A foreword is a introduction that comes before the main text of a book, an introduction usually written by someone other than the book’s author. Do not confuse with forward. Founder-Ācārya On book covers, in photo captions, and in all such formal contexts, Śrīla Prabhupāda’s name must appear as follows: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda Founder-Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness With Prabhupāda’s writings, under his photo, and so on, uppercase both words (Founder-Ācārya). In running text, lowercase both words (founder-ācārya). Note also that ācārya is italic, and the words are separated by a hyphen, not a slash. Just Founder or Ācārya alone is always unacceptable. Acceptable in running text: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, iskcon’s founder-ācārya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, the of iskcon
In Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books, the Glossary can include an entry for millennium, clarifying how he uses the word. For the plural of millennium, either millenniums or millennia is acceptable. minuscule Prefer this spelling, not miniscule. Mogul Use this spelling, not Moghul. mondegreens According to Merriam-Webster, a mondegreen is “a word or phrase that results from a mishearing of something said or sung <“very close veins” is a mondegreen for “varicose veins”>.” In an article in The New Yorker, Maria Konnikova defines mondegreen as “a misheard word or phrase that makes sense in your head, but is, in fact, entirely incorrect.” The word comes from the American writer Sylvia Wright, who, in a 1954 article in Harper’s magazine, wrote of a childhood mishearing. She had heard a verse from a Scottish ballad this way: Ye Highlands and ye Lowlands Oh, where hae ye been? They hae slain the Earl Amurray And Lady Mondegreen But in fact they had slain the poor Earl “and laid him on the green.” Transcriptions of Srila Prabhupada’s talks and dictations, done mainly by his young American followers, abound with mondegreens. For more about mondegreens, see Maria Konnikova’s New Yorker article “Excuse me while I kiss this guy” (December 10, 2014): . moon planet In modern astronomy, “secondary planets” are those that revolve around a star or around a primary planet such as Mercury, Venus, and Mars. Technically, then, the moon too may be called a planet. It is also termed a planet in astrology and Vedic cosmology. Nonetheless, in any context the phrase “moon planet” makes for odd English. Prefer simply “the moon.” “Moon” should usually be lower case.
Muslim Not Moslem, Mohammedan, or Mussulman. In Śrīla Prabhupāda’s already published books, we can let Mohammedan stand. We should also let it stand in quoted speech. Mysuru / Mysore A city southwest of Bengaluru. Since November 2014, Mysore has officially been called Mysuru. In historical contexts for times before then, Mysore is acceptable, or even preferable. Mysore is also the name of a former princely which in 1950 became a state of India. In 1973, with the addition of certain territories of adjoining states, it was reconstituted as the state of Karnataka. nectarine Nectarine has only one meaning: it’s the name for a kind of peach. For a delicious drink, literal or figurative, you want nectar, and its qualities are nectarean. nice Beware the overuse of nice. If you wouldn’t substitute peachy, consider cutting nice. non- Follow Chicago. Some frequently used words for the bbt: nondevotee, nondifferent, nondual, noneternal, nonexistent, nonmaterial, non-Aryan nondifferent Takes the preposition from, not than. not with because When a phrase introduced by because follows a verb made negative by not, the presence or absence of a comma is likely to affect the meaning. Consider: He did not go to Vṛndāvana because of family concerns. With no comma, he went to Vṛndāvana, and not for the sake of his family. But with a comma inserted before because, family concerns prevented him from going.