Illustrations and Illuminations: An Artistic Glorification of Srila Prabhupada's Teachings

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It is said that, "The pen is mightier than the sword. There is another common adage, 'A picture is worth a thousand words'. In other words, complex and sometimes multiple ideas can be conveyed more easily and effectively by a single image, than even a sophisticated verbal description. In that sense we could say that a paint-brush is mightier than the pen and the sword put together. This book is an attempt to realize the power of the paint-brush towards spiritual rejuvenation of our consciousness.

In this modern, digital age of visuals - videos, animations and virtual reality, there is aggressive advertising of products, perspectives and philosophies everywhere, all the time with practically no one spared, inadvertently leading to cut-throat competition, chaos and crisis. We are in need of clarity and wisdom to comprehend the meaning and purpose of life and means to attain fulfilment in life. Srila Prabhupada delivered us invaluable and timeless nuggets of wisdom that are a panacea for this pandemic and have the potential to fill our ever-hungry hearts with ever-increasing happiness. A small attempt is being made here to capture the personality behind the person of Srila Prabhupada on canvas with paints and words.

Illustrations and Illuminations is a collection of astounding artworks and thought-provoking articles that distill the mature wisdom of Srila Prabhupada's timeless teachings to help one in treading the path of spirituality.

The artists of the Hare Krishna movement comprise a singular school of art. This school encompasses various aspects like painting, sculpture, architecture, drama, music, dance, cooking, photography and other arts. These are all means to glorify Krishna in a way that has never been so widely known and disseminated. This art and culture is one of the prominent and primary means of Srila Prabhupada in reaching out Bhakti-yoga to the whole world. This school is called the Vedic or Neo Vedic school of arts because its goal is to search for and show-case the Vedic Truth through art and reach out the same as defined by the spiritual master of the movement. A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. It has been also called the ISKCON School of Art because it was the art that developed along with ISKCON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who brought the Vedic Art and culture of ancient India to the West in 1965 inspired and instructed his artist disciples to create the most auspicious and enchanting Krishna Art. Although most of his artist disciples had little training or background in painting, they made sincere and serious efforts to please their spiritual master. They came out with astounding results. The tradition of Indian religious painting is many centuries old. In the artworks created by these artist disciples, however, you will find a unique synthesis of classical Western technique and Eastern theology. Srila Prabhupada liked to say that the west could be "conquered by the culture of India. Indeed, we have seen a resurgence of avid interest in this culture during the last few decades. It has the ability to inspire and enlighten us, even in an age when the artistic expression is often shallow and mundane.

Srila Prabhupada laboured incessantly to guide his disciples on the path back to Godhead by vigorously, but lovingly, fostering in them a deep appreciation for the themes and personalities depicted in the Vedic literature. The disciples of Srila Prabhupada, namely Jadurani Devi. - Muralidhar Prabhu, Parikshit Prabhu, Pushkar Prabhu. Bharadraj Prabhu, Ram Abhiram Prabhu, Dhriti Devi and others, who have rendered the paintings throughout Srila Prabhupada's books. Their moment-to-moment meditations and personal dedication serve to enhance their love for the subject matter and their inner awareness of its absolute content. By Srila Prabhupada's grace, they were allowed a glimpse into eternity which they portrayed in his every book.

Srila Prabhupada explained that on the spiritual platform both the painting of a person and the person himself is real, whereas on the material platform both the person and the painting are not the same. For Absolute beauty to be properly conveyed, one must actually be in touch with the source of this beauty: Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Ultimately, He is the original artist. Srila Prabhupada elaborates on Krishna's unique position as the premier artist. "Suppose you are an artist. To paint a picture of a very nice rose, you have to take your brush, mix your colours on the palatte, and tax your brain to make the picture beautiful. But in a garden, you can see not only one rose but many thousands of roses blooming. They have been very artistically painted by nature. An artist who performs his art for the satisfaction of Krishna, who knows his relationship with Krishna, is a true artist, and he can depict genuine, absolute beauty as it exists in the spiritual world. For he is seeing the Truth."

My heart is throbbing with spiritual joy because Sriman Haridas Thakur Prabhu has been so kind to give me the opportunity to write the foreword to his extraordinary anthology of visual depictions of Srila AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in his transcendental moods of devotional fervor and spiritual ecstasy.

Srila Prabhupada personally eulogized his disciples' paintings of Lord Krishna's pastimes as "windows to the spiritual world". But then, gazing upon the moonlike countenance of Srila Prabhupada, in all his varying moods of unalloyed devotion, one is immediately transported to that land of Goloka Vrindavan where every step is an elaborate dance and every word is a melodious song. Why so? Because the face of a pure devotee is the window to his heart which is the playground where in the Lord performs His nectarean pastimes.

In the 1980s, I was fortunate enough to personally come in close contact with Srila Prabhupada's artist disciple, Sriman Murlidhara Prabhu, for an entire month and was privileged enough to witness the spontaneous manner in which he brought Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to life with the deft strokes of his brush, in a short span of ten days, on a canvas of six feet by eight feet. This incredible work of art was framed and mounted on the left front wall of ISKCON Auditorium at Hare Krishna Land, Juhu.

It was only after Murlidhara Prabhu had departed from Mumbai, did we realize that another framed painting of a similar size, was needed to fill up the vacant space on the right front wall of ISKCON Auditorium, Juhu. So, we had to find another artist to get a canvas painting done of Srila Prabhupada standing with his sanyasa danda in his left hand in one of the forests of Vrindavan. The artist. Sudarshan Swami, managed quite well until it came to painting Srila Prabhupada's face.

Each time he got down to painting all the facial contours, he just could not manage to portray Srila Prabhupada's extraordinary face and had to redo the job several times over a period of one year. He was at his wit's end and finally summoned another artist friend to help him out of this dilemma. Both Sudarshan Swami and his friend toiled, endlessly, till they finally managed to paint Srila Prabhupada's face that resembled him.

It was then that the truth dawned upon me that it is just not enough having incredible painting skills to portray Srila Prabhupada's facial expressions - it requires his causeless mercy and the intense desire of a servitor disciple to emulate the impossible.

It is most commendable that Sriman Haridas Thakur Prabhu has put forward his unusual talent in the form of this book. "ILLUSTRATIONS and ILLUMINATIONS", as a humble offering to Srila Prabhupada on the auspicious occasion of his 125th Birth Anniversary. There is no doubt that this work of devotional art will certainly go a long way in enkindling devotion to a great Acharya who spread the timeless teachings of Shri Krishna Bhakti all over this planet in an unprecedented manner.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages