The Light of the Bhagavata

In 1961, Srila Prabhupada was invited to make a presentation at Japan’s Congress for Cultivating the Human Spirit. He expected that such an audience would appreciate descriptions of nature and consider autumn particularly auspicious, so he chose for his subject the twentieth chapter of the Srimad-Bhagavatam‘s Tenth Canto which describes the autumn season in Vrindavan, the place of Lord Krishna’s appearance on earth.

For his presentation, he envisioned an illustrated book, juxtaposing Bhagavatam verses with authentic Asian art, to be prominently displayed at the conference. However, Srila Prabhupada wasn’t able to attend, and the project was shelved. Then, seven years after his passing, in 1984, the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust discovered the manuscript and commissioned artist Madame Li Yun Sheng to create the accompanying artwork for the book Srila Prabhupada had intended to call Light Of The Bhagavata.