Oriental (Books)

Expressions researched:
"orient" |"oriental" |"orientalia" |"orientalists" |"orientals"

SB Canto 6

SB 6.18.50, Translation and Purport:

After eating, you should not go out to the street without having washed your mouth, hands and feet. You should not go out in the evening or with your hair loose, nor should you go out unless you are properly decorated with ornaments. You should not leave the house unless you are very grave and are sufficiently covered.

Kaśyapa Muni advised his wife not to go out onto the street unless she was well decorated and well dressed. He did not encourage the miniskirts that have now become fashionable. In Oriental civilization, when a woman goes out onto the street, she must be fully covered so that no man will recognize who she is. All these methods are to be accepted for purification. If one takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one is fully purified, and thus one remains always transcendental to the contamination of the material world.

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 13.114, Purport:

Ladies, especially those coming from respectable families, could not be seen by ordinary men. This system is still current in remote places. The Sanskrit word asūrya-paśyā indicates that a respectable lady could not be seen even by the sun. In the oriental culture this system was very prevalent and was strictly observed by respectable ladies, both Hindu and Muslim. We have actual experience in our childhood that our mother would not walk even next door to observe an invitation; rather, she would go in either a carriage or a palanquin carried by four men. This custom was also strictly followed five hundred years ago, and the wife of Advaita Ācārya, being a very respectable lady, observed the customary rules current in that social environment.

CC Adi 13.115, Purport:

A peṭāri is a kind of big basket that is carried in pairs on the ends of a rod balanced over the shoulders. The man who carries such a load is called a bhārī. This system of carrying luggage and packages is still current in India and other oriental countries, and we have seen that the same system is still current even in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Light of the Bhagavata

Light of the Bhagavata Preface:

Of all His Divine Grace's writings, this work is perhaps the most unique. It was written in Vṛndāvana in 1961 in response to an invitation to attend a world conference, the Congress for Cultivating the Human Spirit, held in Japan. As most of the participants to the Conference were from the Orient, Śrīla Prabhupāda considered deeply how he could best present the timeless teachings of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam suitable to the Oriental people. The original Bhāgavatam was written over five thousand years ago as an extremely large book composed of eighteen thousand verses. Participants to the conference would not have the time to hear it all. He therefore chose one chapter from the original version for presentation.

Light of the Bhagavata Preface:

The chapter he selected was a description of the autumn season in Vṛndāvana, the place of Lord Kṛṣṇa's appearance. Śrīla Prabhupāda knew that the Oriental people were very fond of hearing descriptions of nature and that the time of the autumn season is particularly auspicious to them. Presenting spiritual philosophy by examples from nature would be best for their understanding. For each seasonal phenomenon, a parallel teaching could be given. For example, the dark, cloudy evening of the rainy autumn season when no stars are visible is compared to the present materialistic, godless civilization when the bright stars of the Bhāgavata's wisdom (the devotees and scriptures) are temporarily obscured.

Light of the Bhagavata Preface:

Śrīla Prabhupāda's plan was that the organizers of the conference should find a qualified Oriental artist to illustrate each verse, and he wrote directions from which the artist could design each painting. He hoped that the paintings and their accompanying explanations would make an impressive display for visitors to the conference. If possible, he wished that there might be published a book containing the illustrations and the texts.

Due to unfortunate circumstances, Śrīla Prabhupāda was unable to attend the conference, and the whole project of Light of the Bhāgavata was postponed. In fact, at the time of Śrīla Prabhupāda's disappearance the Light of the Bhāgavata still remained unpublished and the illustrations not yet painted.

Light of the Bhagavata Preface:

The task of completing this great project was therefore left in the hands of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, the publishing house dedicated to keeping all of Śrīla Prabhupāda's books in print. Particularly, the work was assigned to the Hong Kong branch of the Book Trust, since Śrīla Prabhupāda had meant the book especially for the Oriental people. After much searching it was our good fortune to secure the help of the renowned artist Madame Li Yun Sheng, whose mature creative talent and sensitive brushwork alone could properly complement Prabhupāda's beautiful descriptions of the autumn season. Thus the beautifully effulgent light of the Bhāgavata may now shine upon the world.