But Poddar would not accept a single error. They, then, chose another printing press and yet, to their utter disappointment, there were still many mistakes. Both the young fellows were disappointed that the first batch of Gitas, despite very careful proofreading by Poddar, had a large number of spelling mistakes. The first printing project was however a disaster. He was joined in the enterprise by Jaydayal Goenka, a fellow Gita enthusiast and an older close relative, also a more resourceful businessman as well as one who was better versed in shastras and an eloquent speaker. Poddar decided that he would edit, finance, and mass print thousands of copies of Bhagavad Gita – on as good quality paper as possible and distribute these at an extremely small price – the smallest coin of 1 paisa. On the other hand, Calcutta being the capital of missionary activity, Poddar used to see Bibles distributed everywhere. It may be difficult to imagine today but there was a time when a good copy of Gita was not so easy or handy to find. He also studied other commentaries & translations and started to write about Gita himself. He eventually came in contact with Bal Gangadhar Tilak and was very influenced by Tilak’s take on Gita.
He was eventually released but his love for Bhagavad Gita continued. As a result, he was arrested, tried and imprisoned in Alipore prison (where Aurobindo Ghosh also was kept.) That is where he started studying Gita. This young Marwari, Hanuman Prasad Poddar, used his family’s godowns and network to help the revolutionaries procure and store arms. He was drawn to the activities of Anushilan Samiti revolutionaries – with the likes of Aurobindo Ghosh. Hanuman Prasad Poddar was a young son of a Marwari business family in Kolkata. The origin of the idea for Gita Press is in a prison cell of British Bharat at the turn of the last century.
In the last 98 years of its existence, it has printed and sold over 580 million copies of granthas, including over 110 million copies of Bhagavad Gita – all at a very small price (the basic Gita is for Rs 7) with the highest standard quality of paper and printing.
Which Hindu wouldn’t have heard the name of Gita Press Gorakhpur? Which Hindu household wouldn’t have at least one publication from it – Gita, Mahabharata, Upanishadas, or at least the Hanuman Chalisa booklet – from over 2,000 sacred granthas published by it in over 20 languages?
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