The publication of “The Yoga of Kirtan: Conversations on the Sacred Art of Chanting,” while sparking some mild controversy within ISKCON, has enabled me to share our philosophy in venues I wouldn’t have previously thought possible. Radio shows ask for interviews, yoga studios and health food stores repeatedly invite me to lecture, to explain “the new phenomenon” known as kirtan, and numerous New Age magazines and yoga journals have either asked me to write feature articles on kirtan or have favorably reviewed the book. Some of these events can be seen on the “events” page of our website (www.yogaofkirtan.com).

Many people understandably wonder: Will there be a part two? After all, there are numerous kirtaniyas that didn’t make it into the book, and an entire second volume could easily be conceived along the same lines as the first.

That’s partly why I’m writing this short article: I feel there are several people that absolutely should have been represented in the first volume, but, due to time and space constraints — and perhaps my ignorance of their contributions — simply didn’t make it.

As I was about to go to press, I noticed that the book was going to be well over 400 pages, and I wondered where the considerable print money would come from. This was to be a mammoth book — particularly because I was also planning to include a CD (which i did). Perhaps I was being overly ambitious. But I wanted to include as many kirtaniyas as I could, especially from the non-ISKCON world. Along these lines, I am sorry I didn’t include Wah!, Donna De Lory, Bhagavan Das, and several others (including the unique and popular spiritual rapper, MC Yogi). This would have further rounded out the book and appealed to my chosen audience (Western yogis and the New Age movement).

If I could do it over — and if I had unlimited time, space, and financial backing — I would have also included many other ISKCON-related kirtan artists, such as Sura Prabhu and the Temple Bhajan Band, who are now well known in the preaching field mentioned above. Not having Sura and his band in the first volume was an oversight on my part. But there were many such oversights. I should have included Achyutananda, Mangalananda, Bharadvaja, Bada Hari, Shivarama Swami, Sacinandana Swami, Aindra, Indradyumna Maharaja, Lokanath Maharaja, Niranjana Swami, Gauravani, and several others.

In my defense, again, I had limited time, space, and resources. This is only one book, after all, and it was meant to give a mere sampling — to introduce a ready and waiting contemporary yoga scene, already developing a taste for call-and-response chanting, to some of our luminaries, to introduce them to Sri Chaitanya and Srila Prabhupada, in a way that they could easily digest.

My biggest regret, perhaps, was not including an interview with Uttamasloka Prabhu. His early ISKCON kirtans are now legendary, and he was clearly one of the movement’s sonic innovators — it is he, along with a few others, who may be credited with bringing Bengali-style kirtan to the West. In addition, he was the producer of Karnamrita’s beautiful CD, “Dasi,” and although she had mentioned that fact in our original interview, the truth became obscured after the innumerable edits that such writing inevitably goes through. Uttama was also the producer of the Temple Bhajan Band’s second and third CDs, which won critical acclaim. In fact, two of the songs on our “Yoga of Kirtan” compilation CD — that of Karnamrita and the one by Dravida — were recorded and produced by Uttama; he’s even singing on those tracks in the background. His contribution to the world of kirtan was, and continues to be, astounding.

Luckily, Vaiyasaki Prabhu mentions Uttama in his interview, but it’s a case of too little, too late. Truth be told, I didn’t know of Uttama’s contributions before working on this book. The information came out in my research, but by then the book was already going to press. This seems to be a pattern with me: My own ignorance was once again the reason for an imperfect book.

Still, it is what it is. That being said, many people are learning about kirtan from this work, and, if the numerous accolades I’m getting through letter and email correspondence tells us anything — and if the positive reviews in journals month after month and increased online and bookstore sales are any indication — people are appreciating “The Yoga of Kirtan,” despite the serious omissions mentioned above.

Every endeavor is covered by some fault. But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t endeavor. Krishna carries what we lack and preserves what we have, and if we try to offer Him some service with the best of intentions, He will reciprocate accordingly. I am happy to see this firsthand.

Will there be a “Kirtan Book: Part Two.” It’s highly unlikely. But one never knows, does one . . .