they were

[Guest guest]

>Srila Sarasvati Thakura gave much importance to his magazines and

>engaged his most erudite disciples in writing for them. But although

>they were published under his instruction and with his name as

>editor, he did not personally oversee their production. The most

>important and influential journals, the Gaudiya and the Harmonist,

>were edited by Sundarananda Prabhu and Bhakti Sudhakara Prabhu

>respectively, with Vasudeva Prabhu unofficially supervising them.

>

>

>Can "they were" be elided here?

 

No. That would give you a dangling modifier.

 

Moreover, "they" (in "they were published") feels slightly ambiguous

as to its antecedent. I'd say "the magazines were published."