While in Sydney in 1972, Prabhupada worked steadily on his purports to the later chapters of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Third Canto. He was disappointed, however, that his disciples at ISKCON Press could not keep up with him, and had admonished them accordingly.
Consequently, when a special gold-bound edition of the Third Canto, Volume 1 arrived that afternoon by overseas express mail from the printers, Prabhupada was very happy. Sitting at his desk in his small room next door to the temple, he opened his glasses case and put on his dark-rimmed spectacles. "When one of my books is published," Prabhupada had said, "I feel like I have conquered an empire". Prabhupada had also described his books as "the most enduring glorification of Krsna and the most powerful propaganda for spreading Krsna's teachings throughout the world". Far from being the speculations of an ordinary, conditioned soul, subject to mistakes and cheating, these books contained the teachings and activities of Lord Krsna -- the science of Krsna consciousness, passed down by the great acaryas. They were books of perfect knowledge.
He held the book in his hands, examining the binding. On the cover, Krsna danced jubilantly on the heads of the Kaliya serpent. Prabhupada slowly turned the pages, examining the quality of the paper and the colour reproductions, reading small excerpts and smiling with pleasure. It was all first-class.
When Prabhupada turned to the back cover, however, and saw the painting there, his smile dissolved and his face became serious. Lord Brahma was depicted sitting on a red lotus flower, high above Lord Visnu who reclined majestically on the gigantic, white, serpentine bedstead of Sesa Naga as the Garbha Ocean swirled all around. To Prabhupada, the discrepancy was obvious -- the artist had painted the subjects from above, and Prabhupada immediately pointed out the mistake:
"What is this?" he said quizzically, now looking through the very bottom part of his spectacles as they sat low on his nose. "Helicopter view?"
Prabhupada paused and looked around at the two or three devotees seated in his room. "Who can be above Lord Visnu?"
He had pinpointed a faulty mentality in the artist that others less astute would probably have never noticed. The artist had inappropriately depicted the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Visnu and the topmost living being of the universe, Lord Brahma, from above -- a position unattainable for anyone in the creation.
- From "The Great Transcendental Adventure" by HG Kurma Prabhu
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