A brand new deluxe limited edition of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is promises to be the kind of collector’s item that is treasured as a family heirloom for generations.

Truly a feast for the eyes, the new book comes from the Mediterranean division of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, which previously brought us luxury coffee table books like Krishna Art, Darshan, Art of Transcendence, and Prabhupada.

“Now we want to create a line of super luxury books—collector’s pieces—to glorify the books,” says Madhusevita Das, who has served as trustee for the Mediterranean BBT since 1991.

Just as there are exquisite editions of the Bible or the Koran, Madhusevita felt that there should be such an edition of the Bhagavad-gita, the fundamental Vaishnava scripture.

“When you go into a beautiful temple, your appreciation for the Deities within is enhanced,” he says. “Similarly, we have this beautiful Bhagavad-gita As It Is from Srila Prabhupada. And in order to increase people’s appreciation for it, we are putting it in a beautiful setting.”

Indeed, this Deity-like incarnation of Sri Krishna’s words to Arjuna is like nothing the BBT has ever produced before.

A large format book, it measures 44cm x 31cm (17.3 x 12.2 in), weighs 17kgs (37.5 lbs.), and runs to 920 pages.

The deluxe Bhagavad-gita features 26 paintings by ISKCON artists

The full text, with Sanskrit devanagari, transliteration, translation and Srila Prabhupada’s purports, is printed on 150 gram Garda-Pat ivory paper produced in Verona, Italy at Fedrigoni, an ancient paper mill established in 1888.

With high-quality artistic binding hand-made in Italy, the deluxe Bhagavad-gita includes twenty-six large size photographic reproductions of beautiful paintings by renowned ISKCON artists on single and double pages.

The book, designed by Haladhara Das, is presented in a clamshell box with velvet lining. The box is artfully printed with a painting of Lord Krishna guiding Arjuna’s chariot between the armies at the battlefield of Kurukshetra.

Meanwhile on the cover of the book itself is a beautiful relief cast inlaid centerpiece of Lord Krishna and Arjuna.

The deluxe Bhagavad-gita comes in a clamshell box with velvet lining

Italian artist Vaijayanti Dasi (Valentina Rainoldi) spent three weeks meticulously hand-sculpting the original piece with love and devotion.

It was then taken to La Microfonderia Geccherle, a family-run foundry in Milan where two generations of artisans have produced metal castings since 1958.

“They are famous for producing the FIFA World Cup trophy, and have worked with the world renowned sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro, whose sculptures cost a minimum of two or three million dollars apiece,” says Madhusevita. “Their artisanship is something that’s going to disappear in the course of time. But it’s where you get real quality. Everything is done by hand.”

The Geccherle family created perfect copies of the original centerpiece, handpouring and polishing each one, then decorating them with Swarovski Crystals. The unique beauty of handmade Italian artisanship is evident in each piece.

As well as creating the centerpiece, Vaijayanti Dasi also artfully enhanced the pages of the Bhagavad-gita with an elegant hand-painted border depicting the four auspicious symbols of Vishnu: the conch, lotus, club and disc.

The clamshell box is artfully printed with a painting of Krishna and Arjuna

Completing its pedigree, the book was printed by Mauro Loce, who works for some of the most famous publishing houses in the world, and who was very excited to work on the Bhagavad-gita.

“Queen Elizabeth prints books with him as individual gifts for her close associates, with their special family crest and embroidery on them,” Madhusevita says.
Considering all this, it’s no surprise that the deluxe Bhagavad-gita As It Is doesn’t come cheap—one copy will cost 500 Euros to purchase.

However Madhusevita points out that the quality of the book is so high that the BBT will make very little profit on it. That’s even after cutting costs by printing with the Fuji 720, a highly innovative new press. If the BBT had used a normal press, Madhusevita explains, each copy would have cost 3,000 Euros just to print.

These prices are not high in the artistic printing world. In comparison, the prestigious art publisher Taschen, which also prints in Italy, sells its Champ’s Edition of GOAT (Greatest Of All Time, a tribute to the American boxer Muhammad Ali) for an unbelievable $15,000.

Vaijayanti Dasi hand sculpts the relief cast centerpiece on the cover

Madhusevita took the first orders for the deluxe Bhagavad-gita As It Is at the Mayapur Festival in Mayapur, West Bengal this March. The first print run will be just 320 copies, expected to be shipped by the end of June.

Many of the buyers are international preachers who want something truly precious to present to major donors and supporters.

The Mediterranean division of the BBT will continue to print the book on demand, with 300 to 400 copies each time. As it is a limited edition, there will be a total of only 1,008 copies printed, ensuring the rare nature of the publication.

The BBT expects the deluxe Bhagavad-gita to be an investment that will not only increase in value over time, but will also be an heirloom for owners to pass down to future generations.

A Milan-based family of artisans cast the centerpiece for the cover of the Bhagavad-gita by hand

“We presented the book on April 23rd in Verona to several important people in the printing business, including the managing director of Fuji Film—because it is printed on the Fuji 720,” Madhusevita says. “And the Fuji people were so excited to see it that they ordered ten copies of the Bhagavad-gita themselves, to show as
an example that their machine is the best printing press around.”

Intriguingly, the Bhagavad-gita As It Is is only the first in a new line of super luxury books from the Mediterannean BBT.

“I’m thinking of doing the Mahabharat next, and commissioning some very nice oil paintings for it,” says Madhusevita.