Jadurani: In New York in 1974, the press was reprinting the Krishna book. We felt that the original Krishna book paintings were crude, and we wanted to put in new paintings that told similar stories. We spent hours picking out better versions of the old paintings and sent them to Rameshvara in Los Angeles. Rameshvara showed the new paintings to Prabhupada, and Prabhupada rejected 99% of them. He said, “These old Krishna paintings are our ISKCON trademarks, and unless you have my sanction, you can’t replace any of them.” He said, “This is such a beautiful picture, and this one just simply shows Putana’s black face. How can you say this is better?” In the original Krishna book there’s a painting of Vasudev crossing the Yamuna River carrying baby Krishna without Ananta Sesa. I wanted to replace it with another painting that was more expertly done but wasn’t the same pastime. Prabhupada said, “How can you take out this painting? It’s so important.” Ramesvara said, “But the old one doesn’t have Ananta Sesa over Vasudev.” Prabhupada said, “Then put Ananta in, but don’t take out the painting.” Prabhupada was very strict on the paintings, their importance, and how they have to be exactly right. Time and again he instilled in us the importance of the paintings.
Reference: SP Remembrances – Siddhanta Dasa
courtesy:- https://www.srilaprabhupadalila.org/read/SPFPP_0288
