aboriginal origin since both the Dravidian races and the aboriginal tribes
are dark brown in colour in contrast to the paler Aryans. None of the
texts, however, appears to corroborate this theory. So far as 'blue' and
'mauve' are concerned, 'blue' is the colour of Vishnu and characterizes
most of his incarnations. As the colour of the sky, it is appropriate to
a deity who was originally associated with the sun--the sun with its
life-giving rays according well with Vishnu's role as loving protector.
'Blue' is also supposed to be the colour of the ocean on which Vishnu is
said to recline at the commencement of each age. In view of the variations
in colour in the pictures, it is perhaps significant that 'blue,' 'mauve'
and 'green' are commonly regarded in village India as variants of
'black'--many Indians making no distinction between them. In Indian
painting, the fact that Krishna is blue makes it easy to identify him, his
only serious rival being another and earlier incarnation of Vishnu, the
princely Rama. The latter can usually be distinguished from Krishna by the
fact that he carries a bow (never a cowherd's stick) and is often
accompanied by Hanuman, the monkey leader.

Note 3, p. 17.

For a comparison of Ghora Angirasa's teaching in the _Chandogya Upanishad_
with Krishna's precepts in the _Gita_, see Mazumdar, _The Age of Imperial
Unity_ (432-4) and Basham, _The Wonder that was India_ (242-7, 304-5)

Note 4, p. 17.

Although the actual date of the _Mahabharata_ war has been variously
assessed--'between 1400 and 1000 B.C.' (M.A. Mehendale in _The Age of
Imperial Unity_, 251) 'the beginning of the ninth century B.C. (Basham,
op. cit., 39)--the epic itself is generally recognized as being a product
of many centuries of compilation. The portions relating to Krishna the
hero may well date from the third century B.C. The _Gita_, on the other
hand, was possibly composed in the second century B.C. 'but assumed the
form in which it appears in the _Mahabharata_ today in the early centuries
A.D.' (Mehendale, op. cit., 249).

Note 5, p. 24.

The implication is that the Pandavas have not been granted ultimate
salvation i.e. final release from living but have reached the important
transitional level of 'the heaven of the doers of good deeds.' They have
also been granted the limited status of petty gods.

Note 6, p. 25.

_Harivansa_, 'the Genealogy of Krishna' but more literally, 'the Genealogy
of Hari,' a synonym for Vishnu. For the sake of clearness and to avoid
burdening the text with too much periphrasis, I have throughout referred
to Krishna as such. In the texts themselves, however, he is constantly
invoked under other names--Hari (or Vishnu), Govinda (the cowherd),
Keshava (the hairy or radiant one), Janarddana (the most worshipful),
Damodara ('bound with a rope,' referring to the incident (p. 32) when
having been tied by Yasoda to a mortar, Krishna uproots the two trees),
Murari ('foe of Mura, the arch demon' p. 58) or in phrases such as
'queller of Kaliya the snake,' 'destroyer of Kesi, the demon horse,'
'slayer of Madhu--the demon who sprang from the ear of Vishnu and was
killed by him.' A similar use of periphrasis occurs in Anglo-Saxon
kennings ('world-candle' for sun, 'battle-adders' for arrows). In the same
way, Abul Fazl's chronicle, the _Akbarnama_, never names the emperor Akbar
but refers to him in terms such as 'His Majesty,' 'the holy soul,' 'lord
of the age,' 'fountain of generosity,' 'the sacred heart,' 'the
world-adorning mind,' 'the decorated mansion of sports.'

Note 7, p. 26, 34, 46, 68, 69.

In Chapters 3 and 4 I have, in the main, strictly followed the _Bhagavata
Purana,_ incorporating, however, a few important details and passages
either not given in this text but included in the _Vishnu Purana_ or if
given, not so vividly expressed. The details and passages in question are
page 27 concerning the white and black hairs of Vishnu, page 34--the
lyrical description of Krishna's life in the forest, page 46--Akrura's
meditation as he goes to visit Krishna, page 68--the drunken brawl and
page 69 the deaths of Balarama and Krishna. All extracts are from H.H.
Wilson, _The Vishnu Purana_ (pages 498, 511, 541-2, 609-612).

Note 8, p. 28.

The resemblance between Kansa's order to kill all male infants and Herod's
slaughter of the innocents has often been remarked.

Note 9, p. 29.

Krishna's constant alterations of role, appearing sometimes as God but
more often as boy or man, have been commented on by Isherwood and
Prabhavananda in connection with Arjuna's dilemma in the _Mahabharata_.
'Krishna is the divine incarnation of Vishnu, Arjuna's chosen deity.
Arjuna knows this--yet, by a merciful ignorance, he sometimes forgets.
Indeed, it is Krishna who makes him forget, since no ordinary man could
bear the strain of constant companionship with God. After the vision of
Krishna's divine aspect, Arjuna is appalled by the realization that he has
been treating the Lord of the universe as 'friend and fellow-mortal.' He
humbly begs Krishna's pardon, but his awe soon leaves him. Again, he has
forgotten. We may infer the same relationship between Jesus and his
disciples after the vision of the transfiguration.' _(The Song of God,
Bhagavad-Gita,_ 29-30).

Note 10, p. 33.

Although part of the supreme Trinity, Brahma was often treated in
literature as an ordinary god who ambled gently about the world, was often
rather absent-minded, sometimes behaved as if he were a priest, and was
prone, as on the present occasion, to act a trifle misguidedly.

Note 12, p. 40.

The scene is illustrated in two Kangra and Guler paintings (Archer,
_Indian Painting in the Punjab Hills_, Figs. 10 and 23).

Note 12, p. 58.

Pragjyotisha--a city situated in the east, in Kamarupa on the borders of
Assam. According to the _Vishnu Purana_ (Wilson, 582), its environs were
defended by 'nooses, constructed by the demon Mura (Naraka's ally), the
edges of which were as sharp as razors.' Mura had seven thousand sons (not
seven, as stated in the _Bhagavata_). All, however, were 'burnt like moths
with the flame of the edge of Krishna's discus.'

Note 13, p. 67.

Basham (op. cit., 305) points out that elements in the Krishna story such
as the destruction of the Yadavas and the death of the god are 'quite
un-Indian in their tragic character. The themes of the drunken brawl
leading to a general slaughter, of the hero slain by an arrow piercing his
one vulnerable spot, and of the great city engulfed by the sea, are
well-known in European epic literature, but do not occur elsewhere in that
of India and are not hinted at in the Vedas. The concept of the dying god,
so widespread in the ancient Near East, is found nowhere else in Indian
mythology.'

It is unfortunate that Krishna's reasons for destroying the Yadava race
are nowhere made very clear. The affront to the Brahmans is the immediate
occasion for the slaughter but hardly its actual cause; and, if it is
argued that the Yadavas must first be destroyed in order to render
Krishna's withdrawal from the world complete, we must then assume that the
Yadavas are in some mysterious way essential parts of Krishna himself.
Such a status, however, does not seem to be claimed for them and none of
the texts suggest that this is so. The slaughter, therefore, remains an
enigma.

Note 14, p. 68.

Wilson (op. cit., 608) summarizing the portents listed in the
_Mahabharata_ but not included in the _Vishnu_ or _Bhagavata Puranas_.

Note 15, p. 72.

From the _Brihadaranyaka_, quoted A. Danielou, 'An Approach to Hindu
Erotic Sculpture,' _Marg_, Vol. II, No. i, 88. For a Western expression of
this point of view, compare Eric Gill, 'Art and Love,' _Rupam_ (Calcutta,
1925), No. 21, 5.

'If the trees and rocks, the thunder and the sea, the frightful avidity of
animal life and the loveliness of flowers are so many hints of the God who
made them, how much more obviously are the things of humanity analogues of
the things of God? And among all such things, the union of man and woman
takes the highest place and is the most potent symbol. Therefore it is
that outside the commercial civilizations of the western world, love and
marriage take their place as types of divine union and everywhere love and
marriage are the subject matter, the theme of religious writers, singers,
painters and sculptors. It is true that love is the theme of western
writers also but with them the idea of love is entirely free from divine
signification. (As a corollary), the more the divine background
disappears, the more the prudishness of the police becomes the standard of
ethics and aesthetics alike. Under such an aegis the arts are necessarily
degraded to the level of the merely sentimental or the merely sensual and
while the sentimental is everywhere applauded, the sensual is a source of
panic.'

Note 16, p. 73.

In later poetry as well as in popular worship, Radha's position is always
that of an adored mistress--never that of a beloved wife. And it is
outside or rather in the teeth of marriage that her romance with Krishna
is prosecuted. Such a position clearly involved a sharp conflict with
conventional morals and in the fourteenth century, an attempt was made,
in the _Brahma Vaivarta Purana_, to re-write the _Bhagavata Purana_,
magnifying Radha as leader of the cow-girls, disguising or rather denying
her adultery and finally presenting her as Krishna's eternal consort. For
this purpose, three hypotheses were adopted. Radha was throughout assumed
to be Krishna's spouse and it is only on account of a curse that she takes
human form as a cowgirl and comes to live in Brindaban. Radha herself does
not marry Ayana the cowherd--his wedding being only with her shadow.
Thirdly, Krishna comes to Brindaban and goes through a secret marriage
with her. Their love-making is, therefore, no longer adulterous but
strictly conjugal. It is not perhaps surprising that the _Brahma Vaivarta
Purana_ failed to capture the Indian imagination and indeed is nowadays
hardly ever heard of. It is of interest mainly on account of the prolific
information given about Radha, the fact that it sets her firmly in the
centre, dethroning the hapless Rukmini, and its baroque descriptions of
sexual union.

Note 17, p. 73.

During the eleventh and twelfth centuries, a parallel situation seems to
have arisen in feudal France and Germany where local love-poetry also
treated adultery as a _sine qua non_ of romance.

'Two things prevented the men of that age from connecting their ideal of
romantic and passionate love with marriage. The first is, of course, the
actual practice of feudal society. Marriages had nothing to do with love
and no 'nonsense' about marriage was tolerated. All marriages were matches
of interest and, worse still, of an interest that was continually
changing. When the alliance which had answered would answer no longer, the
husband's object was to get rid of the lady as quickly as possible.
Marriages were frequently dissolved. The same woman who was the lady and
'the dearest dread' of her vassals was often little better than a piece of
property to her husband. He was master in his own house. So far from being
a natural channel for the new kind of love, marriage was rather the drab
background against which that love stood out in all the contrast of its
new tenderness and delicacy. The situation is indeed a very simple one,
and not peculiar to the Middle Ages. Any idealization of sexual love, in a
society where marriage is purely utilitarian, must begin by being an
idealization of adultery.' (C.S. Lewis, _The Allegory of Love_ (London,
1936), 13.)

Note 18, p. 77.

Much of the _Gita Govinda's_ power arises from the endowment of Nature
with romantic ardour, the forest itself being presented as a highly
sensitive and symbolic setting for the behaviour of lovers. The following
passage from _Tess of the D'Urbervilles_ is perhaps the nearest approach
in English to this kind of treatment.

'Amid the oozing fatness and warm ferments of the Var Vale, at a season
when the rush of juices could almost be heard below the hiss of
fertilization, it was impossible that the most fanciful love should not
grow passionate. The ready bosoms existing there were impregnated by their
surroundings. July passed over their heads and the weather which came in
its wake seemed an effort on the part of Nature to match the state of
hearts at Talbothays Dairy. The air of the place, so fresh in the spring
and early summer, was stagnant and enervating now. Its heavy scents
weighed upon them, and at mid-day the landscape seemed lying in a swoon.
Ethiopic scorchings browned the upper slopes of the pastures, but there
was still bright herbage here where the water courses purled. And as Clare
was oppressed by the outward heats, so was he burdened inwardly by waxing
fervour of passion for the soft and silent Tess.'

Note 19, p. 77.

The _Gita Govinda_ was one of the first Sanskrit poems to be rendered into
English--Sir William Jones publishing a mellifluous version in _Asiatick
Researches_ in 1792. Later in the nineteenth century it was translated
into Victorian verse by Sir Edwin Arnold. The present translation from
which all the extracts are taken is by George Keyt, the foremost modern
artist of Ceylon. It is greatly to be hoped that the entire translation,
hitherto available only in an Indian edition, will one day be published in
England.

Note 20, p. 86.

Poems 1 and 2 are based on versions by O.C. Gangoly (_Masterpieces of
Rajput Painting_, 29, 58); poems 3-11 are from new translations by Deben
Bhattacharya.

Note 21, p. 91.

For the originals of certain poems in the _Rasika Priya_ and their literal
translation, see Coomaraswamy, 'The Eight Nayikas.'

Note 22, p. 104.

The first scholar to draw attention to this fact, i.e. that the subjects
are not Radha and Krishna but palace ladies impersonating them, is Dr.
Joan van Lohuizen de Leeuw, whose paper on this and kindred problems is
under preparation.

Note 23, p. 105.

For a detailed discussion of Bhanu Datta's _Rasamanjari_ and of similar
treatises by other Sanskrit authors, see V. Raghavan, _Srngaramanjari of
Saint Akbar Shah_ (Hyderabad, 1951).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

AGRAWALA, V.S.: 'The Romance of Himachal Paintings,' _Roopa-Lekha_ XX, 2,
(1948-9), 87-93.

ARCHER, W.G.: _Indian Painting in the Punjab Hills_ (London, 1952).
_Kangra Painting_ (London, 1952). _Garhwal Painting_ (London, 1954).
_Indian Painting_ (London, 1956).

BASHAM, A.L.: _The Wonder that was India_ (London, 1954).

BURNOUF, E. (trans.): _Le Bhagavata Purana_ (Paris, 1840-98).

COOMARASWAMY, A.C.: 'The Eight Nayikas,' _Journal of Indian Art and
Industry_, XVI (New Series), No. 128 (1914), 99-116. _Rajput Painting_
(Oxford, 1916). _Catalogue of the Indian Collections in the Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston: Part V, Rajput Painting; Part VI, Mughal Painting_
(Cambridge, Mass. 1926, 1930). (trans.) _The Taking of Toll_ (London,
1915).

GANGOLY, O.C.: _Masterpieces of Rajput Painting_ (Calcutta, 1926). _Ragas
and Raginis_ (Calcutta, 1934).

GRAY, B.: _Rajput Painting_ (London, 1948). 'Painting,' _The Art of India
and Pakistan_, ed. L. Ashton (London, 1950).

GRIERSON, G.A.: _The Modern Vernacular Literature of Hindustan_ (Calcutta,
1889).

HENDLEY, T.H.: _Memorials of the Jeypore Exhibition. IV, the Razm Namah_
(London, 1883).

HOLLINGS, W. (trans.): _The Prem Sagar_ (Lucknow, 1880).

ISHERWOOD, C. and PRABHAVANANDA, S. (trans.): _The Song of God,
Bhagavad-Gita_ (London, 1947).

JONES, W. (trans.): 'Gitagovinda or Songs of Jayadeva,' _Asiatick
Researches_ (Calcutta, 1792).

KEYT, G. (trans.): _Sri Jayadeva's Gita Govinda_ (Bombay, 1947).

MATHERS, E. POWYS (trans.): _Eastern Love_ (London, 1927-30). (trans.)
_Love Songs of Asia_ (London, 1944).

MAZUMDAR, R.C. (ed.): _The History and Culture of the Indian People, I, The
Vedic Age_ (London, 1951); II, _The Age of Imperial Unity_ (Bombay, 1951).

MEHTA, N.C.: _Studies in Indian Painting_ (Bombay, 1926). _Gujarati
Painting in the Fifteenth Century_ (London, 1931).

RANDHAWA, M.S.: _Kangra Valley Painting_ (New Delhi, 1954). _The Krishna
Legend in Pahari Painting_ (New Delhi, 1956).

ROY, P.C. (trans.): _The Mahabharata_ (Calcutta, 1883).

SEN, D.C.: _History of Bengali Language and Literature_ (Calcutta, 1911).

SEN, R.N. (trans.): _The Brahma Vaivarta Purana_ (Allahabad, 1920).

STCHOUKINE, I.: _La Peinture Indienne_ (Paris, 1929).

WINTERNITZ, M.: _A History of Indian Literature_ (Calcutta, I, 1927; II,
1933).

WILSON, H.H. (trans.): _The Vishnu Purana_ (London, 1840).

INDEX

Abul Fazl, 116, pl. 1 (comment)
Aditi, mother of the gods, 58, 59
_Age of Imperial Unity, The_, 115, 121
Agni, god of fire, 18
Agrawala, V.S., 121
Ahmadnagar, Deccan, 97
Ajmer, Rajasthan, 103
Akbar, Mughal Emperor, 97-99, 116, pl. 1 (comment)
_Akbarnama_, 98, 116
Akrura, chief of the Yadavas, 45-47, 49, 51, 57, 116
_Allegory of Love, The_, 119
Altdorfer, 93
Amaru, Sanskrit poet, 73
Aniruddha, son of Pradyumna and grandson of Krishna, 64
Archer, Mildred, 4, 9
Archer, W.G., 4, 101, 105, 107-112, 115, 117, 121
Arjuna, leading Pandava, husband of Draupadi, husband of Krishna's sister,
  Subhadra, 20-22, 64, 65, 67, 69, 116, 117
Arnold, Sir Edwin, 119
_Art of India and Pakistan, The_, 96, 98, 101, 104, 107, 111, 121
_Asiatick Researches_, 119
Assam, 117
Aurangzeb, Mughal Emperor, 99
Ayana, husband of Radha, brother of Yasoda, 72, 118

Baden Powell, B.H., 110
Bakasura, crane demon, 33
_Balagopala Stuti_, poem by Bilvamangala, 84, 94
Balarama, brother of Krishna, 27, 30, 31, 34-36, 44-48, 50-56, 61-64, 66,
  67, 69, 116, pls. 1, 5, 6, 9, 12, 16, 17
Bali, ruler of the underworld, 62
Bani Thani, poetess of Kishangarh, 103
_Barahmasa_, poems of the twelve months, 102, pl. 32
Basawan, Mughal artist, pls. 1, 2 (comment), 3 (comment)
Basham, A.L., 9, 19, 115, 117, 121
Basohli, Punjab Hills, 104, 105, 107, 111, pls. 18 (comment),
  26 (comment), 30 (comment)
Beatty, Sir Chester, pls. 17, 19
_Bhagavad Gita_, 15-17, 24, 67, 115, 117
_Bhagavata Purana_, 11, 25-71, 72, 74, 85, 85, 99, 101, 105, 107,
  110, 111, 116-18, 121, pls. 3-19
_Bhakti_, devotion to God, 19, 24
Bhanu Datta, author of _Rasamanjari_, 9, 105, 120, pls. 30, 31
Bharat Kala Bhawan, Banaras, 103, pl. 37
_Bharatiya Natya Sastra_, Sanskrit treatise, 90
Bhartrihari, Sanskrit poet, 73
Bhattacharya, Deben, 9, 87-90, 119
Bhima, strongest of the five Pandavas, 24, 65, 66
Bihari Lai, poet, 84, 110, pl. 36
Bijapur, Deccan, 97
Bikaner, Rajasthan, 99, 100, 103
Bilaspur, Punjab Hills, 107, 111, pl. 18
Bilvamangala, poet, 84, 94
Blue, colour of Krishna, 14, 115
Book covers, Bengali, 111
Brahma, 17, 27, 28, 33, 34, 58, 59, 65, 67, 117, pl. 2
_Brahma Vaivarta Purana_, 118, 121
Brahmans, 22, 28, 30, 38, 39, 62, 63, 67, 68, 71, 74, 107, 108, 117
  Wives of, 38, 39
Braj, country around Mathura, 26, 28, 40
_Brihadaranyaka_, 117
Brindaban, forest near Gokula, 33, 35, 45, 46, 49, 52, 53, 59-62, 103,
  pl. 6
British Museum, pl. 18
Brough, J., 9
Buddhism, 94
Bull demon, 44
Bundelkhand, 91, 99
Bundi, Rajasthan, 101-103
Burnouf, E., 121

Calcutta, 111, 112
Campbell, Roy, 75
Ceylon, 57, 112
Chamba, Punjab Hills, 107, 111
Chandi Das, Bengali poet, 84, 85, 89, 111
Chandigarh Art Gallery, East Punjab, pl. 27
_Chandogya Upanishad_, 17, 24, 115
Chanura, wrestler, 45, 48
Chawand, Mewar, 100
Christ, 14, 112, 117
Clothes, stealing of cowgirls', 37, 38, 74, 75, pl. 11
Coomaraswamy, A.K., 99, 104-6, 108, 120, 121, pl. 8 (comment)
Cowgirls, loves of the, 29, 36-38, 41-44, 46, 49, 50, 52, 53, 58, 60-62,
  66, 70-82, 85, 86, 109, 110, 113, pls. 11, 13-15, 20-23.
Cowherds, abandonment of, by Krishna,
  Krishna's life with, 49-53, 61, 62

Damodara, pseudonym for Krishna, 116
Dance, circular, 38, 41, 43, 46, 74, 75, p. 13 (comment)
Danielou, A., 117
Daruka, charioteer to Krishna, 68, 69
Demons, combats with, 29, 30, 33-36, 44, 45, 54, 55, 58, 64, 116, 117,
  pl. 9
  role of, 18, 19
Devaka, younger brother of King Ugrasena, 27
Devaki, mother of Krishna, 17, 27, 28, 44, 46, 48-50, 52, 63, 69, pl. 3
Devi, goddess, Earth Mother, 28, 40, 56, pls. 3, 18
Dey, B., 112
_Dharma_, 18, 23
Dhenuka, ass demon, 34
Dhritarashtra, blind son of Kuru, father of Kauravas, 20, 21, 51, 66
Dice, contest by, 21
Dickinson, Eric, 103
Draupadi, daughter of King of Panchal, common wife of the five Pandavas,
  20-23, 64, 67
Drumalika, demon, 26
Duryodhana, leading Kaurava and son of Dhritarashtra, 23, 51, 66, 67
Dwarka, Krishna's capital in Western India, 21, 22, 54-59, 61-64, 66-70,
  94, 108, pls. 2 (comment), 19

Earth, 27, 49, 58, 67
_Eastern Love_, 121
El Greco, 93

Flute playing, 15, 36, 37, 41, 61, 78, 86, 109, 112, pl. 21
Forest fires, 35, 36, pl. 10
France, feudal, 118

Games with cowherds, Krishna's, 31-35, 45, pls. 4-9
Gandhi, Mahatma, 15
Gangoly, O.C., 104, 119, 121
Garga, sage, 30, 31
Garhwal, Punjab Hills, 107-110, pl. 38
_Garhwal Painting_, 107, 108, 121
Germany, feudal, 118
Ghora Angirasa, 17, 115
Gill, Eric, 118
_Gita Govinda_, Sanskrit poem by Jayadeva, 9, 11, 76-84, 94-96, 98,
  110, 111, 113, 119, 121, pls. 20-27
Gods, role of, 18, 19
Goetz, H., 99, 100
Gokula, district near Mathura, 26, 30, 33, 44
Govardhan Singh, Raja of Guler, 107
Govardhana, greatest of the hills, 39, 40, 42, 59, pl. 12
Govind Das, poet, 84, 88
Govinda, pseudonym for Krishna, 116
Gray, Basil, 100, 121
Grierson, Sir G.A., 121
Grunewald, 93
_Gujarati Painting in the Fifteenth Century_, 121
Guler, Punjab Hills, 107-109, pl. 18 (comment)

Hari, pseudonym for Krishna, 116
_Harivansa_, appendix to _Mahabharata_ epic, 25, 32, 98, 116
Hendley, T.H., 98, 121
Herod, 116
Holi festival, 109
Hollings, W., 121
Hunter, slayer of Krishna, see Jara.
Hussain Shah, ruler of Jaunpur, 96

India Office Library, London, pl. 34 (comment)
Indian Museum, Calcutta, pl. 35
_Indian Painting_, 115, 121
_Indian Painting in the Punjab Hills_, 105, 107
Indra, king of the gods, lord of the clouds, 18, 24, 39, 40, 46, 58, 59,
  65, 66, pls. 2, 12
Irwin, J., 112
Isherwood, Christopher, 15, 24, 116

Jadupatuas, minstrel artists of Bengal, 112
Jaipur, Rajasthan, 95, 98, 103, 104, pls. 1 (comment), 2 (comment)
Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, 103
Jambhavati, a queen of Krishna, 56, 57, 60
Jammu, Punjab Hills, 107
Janarddana, pseudonym for Krishna, 116
Japan, 13
Jara, Bhil hunter, slayer of Krishna, 24, 67, 69, pl. 2
Jarasandha, demon king of Magadha, 26, 54-56, 65
Jaunpur, Eastern India, 96, 97
Jayadeva, Sanskrit poet, 76, 77, 84, 94, 111, 121
Jodhpur, Rajasthan, 95, 103
Jones, Sir William, 119, 121
Jumna, river, 22, 28, 35, 37, 41, 43, 47, 48, 61, 74, 82, 85, pls. 8,
  13-15

Kalidasa, Sanskrit poet, 73
Kalindi, a queen of Krishna, 57, 60, 64
Kaliya, giant hydra-headed snake, 35, 42, 46, 108, 116, pls. 8,
  10 (comment)
Kaliyavana, 54
_Kalpasutra_, Jain Scripture, 96
Kama, god of passion, 18, 64
Kamalavati, mother of Radha, 72
Kangra, Punjab Hills, 93, 108-11, pl. 3 (comment)
_Kangra Painting_, 109, 110, 121
_Kangra Valley Painting_, 121
Kanoria, Gopi Krishna, 9, pls. 7, 29, 39
Kansa, tyrant king of Mathura, son of Pavanarekha by the demon
  Drumalika, 26-9, 31, 33, 43-50, 54, 55, 57, 62, 110, 116, pls. 3,
  9 (comment), 16 (comment), 17, 35 (comment)
Karna, leading Kaurava killed by Arjuna at Kurukshetra, 23
Kauravas, the 100 sons of Dhritarashtra, rivals of the Pandavas
  (vide _Mahabharata_) 20, 21, 23, 26, 51, 62, 66, 67
Kennings, Anglo-Saxon, 116
Keshav Das, poet, 84, 91, 99, 100, 105, pls. 28, 30 (comment)
Keshava, pseudonym for Krishna, 116
Kesi, horse demon, 44, 45, 115
Keyt, George, artist and translator of the _Gita Govinda_, 9, 76-83,
  112, 113, 119, 121, pls. 21-27 (comments)
Khandalawala, Karl, 95, 96, pls. 10, 23 (comment)
Khurasan, 97, pl. 1 (comment)
Kirpal Pal, Raja of Basohli, 104, 105, 107, pl. 10 (comment)
Kishangarh, Rajasthan, 103, pl. 39
Kotah, Rajasthan, 103
Krishna Das, poet, 84
Kubera, yaksha king, pl. 5 (comment)
Kubja, hunchback girl, 47, 53, 54
Kulu, Punjab Hills, 107, 111
Kumbhan Das, poet, 84
Kundulpur, 56
  Raja of, father of Rukmini, 55
Kunti, wife of Pandu, mother of the Pandavas, sister of Vasudeva
  (Krishna's father), 20, 21, 51, 57, 62, 64
Kuru, common ancestor of the Pandavas and Kauravas, 20
Kurukshetra, battle-field of, 15, 21, 26, 61
Kushala, Kangra artist, 110, pls. 3, 21, 36
Kuvara, brother of Nala, 32, pl. 5.

Lahore, State Museum, pl. 26
Lanka, modern Ceylon, 57
Léger, F., 112
Lewis, C.S., 119
Lohuizen, Dr. Joan van, de Leeuw, 120
_Love Songs of Asia_, 121
Lucknow, State Museum, pl. 5

MacNeice, Louis, 15
Madhu, demon, 116
Magadha, 26, 54, 55
_Mahabharata_, 11, 17, 19-25, 51, 70, 98, 115
Mahavira, founder of Jainism, 94
Malabar, 84
Malwa, Central India, 97, 100-2
Manaku, Basohli princess, patron of painting, 107, pl. 26 (comment)
Manohar, Mewar artist, 100
_Marg_, Indian art journal, 95, 103, 111, 117
_Masterpieces of Rajput Painting_, 104, 119, 121
Mathers, E. Powys, 121
Mathura, town in Northern India, 26, 29, 30, 38, 39, 44-55, 61, 74, 76,
  pls. 16 (comment), 17 (comment)
Mazumdar, M.R., 94
  R.C., 115, 121
Mehendale, M.A., 115, 116
Mehta, N.C., 95, 107, 110, 121, pls. 4, 21, 22, 36
Mewar, Rajasthan, 100, 103
Mira Bai, poetess, 84
Mithila, 111
_Modern Vernacular Literature of Hindustan, The_, 121
Mody, J.K., pls. 3, 8, 11, 13, 15, 16
Monkey demon, 64
Mookerjee, A., 112
Moonlight, master of the, pls. 13-5
Moti Chandra, 96
Mukund, Mughal artist, pl. 2
Murari, pseudonym for Krishna, 116
Muru (or Mura), arch demon, 58, 117
Muslim artists, 99, 100
  invasions, 73
  rulers, 93, 96, 98
  states, 97, 101
Mustaka, wrestler, 48

Nainsukh, Guler artist, pls. 3 (comment), 21 (comment)
Nala, brother of Kuvara, 32, pl. 5
Nanda, wealthy herdsman, foster-father of Krishna, 27-32, 35-41, 44-53,
  61, 62, 77, 107, pls. 5, 10, 12, 20
Narada, sage, 60
Naraka, demon son of Earth, 58, 117
Nasiruddin, Mewar artist, 100
_Nayikas_ and _Nayakas_, 90, 91, 102, pl. 28
New Delhi, National Museum, pls. 5, 9, 12, 14, 20, 28
New Testament, 15
Nihal Chand, Kishangarh artist, 103
Nude, the, pl. 11
Nurpur, Punjab Hills, 107, 111

Ocean, 69
Orchha, Central India, 84, 91, 99

Painting, Basohli, 104-7, pls. 4, 10, 18 (comment), 26 (comment), 27,
  30, 31
  Bengali, 111, 112
  Bikaner, 99, 100
  Bilaspur, 107, 111, pl. 18
  Bundi, 101, 102, pls. 28, 32
  Deccani, 97, pl. 34
  European, pl. 1 (comment)
  Flemish, 14
  Garhwal, 107, 108, pls. 3 (comment), 7, 8 (comment), 12, 19, 20, 25, 35,
    38 (comment)
German, 93
  Gujarati, 94, 121
  Guler, 107, 108, 117, 121, pls. 3 (comment), 21 (comment), 37
  Italian, 14
  Jain, 94-96, pl. 22 (comment)
  Jaipur, 104, 120
  Jaunpur, 96, pls. 23-24
  Kalighat, 111, 112
  Kangra, 93, 103-111, 117, 121, pls. 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13-17, 21, 36
  Kishangarh, 103, 104, pl. 39
  Maithil, 111
  Malwa, 97, 101, 102, pl. 33
  Mughal, 13, 97-99, 103, 105, 107, 121, pls. 1, 2, 3 (comment)
  Nahan, pl. 38
  Persian, 97
  Udaipur, Mewar, 100, 101, 103-105, pl. 28 (comment), 29
  Western Indian, 94-96, pl. 22 (comment)
  Western Rajasthani, pl. 22
Panchala, kingdom of, 20, 21
Pandavas, five sons of Pandu, rivals of the Kauravas (vide _Mahabharata_),
  20-26, 51, 57, 62-66, 70, 116
Pandu, second son of Kuru, father of the Pandavas, 20
Parasurama, 'Rama with the Axe,' incarnation of Vishnu, 20
Parikshit, great-grandson of Krishna, 69
Parmanand Das, poet, 84
Parvati, consort of Siva, 37
Pavanarekha, wife of King Ugrasena, 26
Prabhasa, town near Dwarka, 68, 94, pl. 1 (comment)
Prabhavananda, Swami, 15, 24, 116, 121
Pradyumna, Krishna's son by Rukmini, 64
Pragjyotisha, city of the demon, Naraka, 58, 117
Pralamba, demon in human form, 35, pls. 9, 10 (comment)
Pratap Singh, Raja of Jaipur, 104
Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay, pls. 23, 24, 32
Punjab Hills, 4, 13, 93, 98, 104, 105, 107, 111
Purkhu, Kangra artist, 109, 110, pls. 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 16
Putana, ogress, 29, 42

Radha, Krishna's chief cowgirl love, 15, 16, 72-90, 96, 98, 103-105,
  109-111, 113, 117, pls. 13 (comment). 20-29, 31-39
_Ragas_ and _Raginis_, modes of Indian music, 84, 101, 102, 107,
  pls. 33, 34
_Ragas and Raginis_, 121
Raghavan, V., 120
Rajasthan, 13, 95, 96, 99-105
_Rajput Painting_ (Coomaraswamy), 104, 108, 121, pl. 8 (comment)
  (Gray), 121
Ram Gopal, 15
Rama, incarnation of Vishnu, 20, 57, 115
_Ramayana_, 98
Rana Jagat Singh, ruler of Mewar, 100
Rana Raj Singh, ruler of Mewar, 100, 105
Randhawa, M.S., 121
_Rasamanjari_, Sanskrit treatise by Bhanu Datta, 9, 105, 106, 120,
  pls. 30, 31
_Rasika Priya_, Hindi treatise by Keshav Das (comment), 11, 90-92,
  99-102, 105, 120, pls. 28, 30 (comment)
_Razmnama_, Persian abridgement of the _Mahabharata_, 98, Pls. 1, 2
Re-birth, theory of, 17-19
Revati, wife of Balarama, 55
Rohini, a wife of Vasudeva, mother of Balarama, 27-31, 35, 44, 53, 99
_Roopa-lekha_, Indian art journal, 121
Roy, Jamini, 112
Roy, P.C., 121
Rukma, brother of Rukmini, 56, 64
Rukmini, Krishna's first queen, 15, 55, 56, 59, 60, 64, 66, 69-72, 118,
  pl. 18
Ruknuddin, Bikaner artist, 99
_Rupam_, Indian art journal, 118
Russell, M., 113

Saktasura, demon, 30
Sankhasura, yaksha demon, 44
Sansar Chand, Raja of Kangra, 13, 108-111
_Sat Sat_, poems by Bihari Lal, 110, pl. 36
Sattrajit, father of Satyabhama, 56, 57
Satyabhama, a queen of Krishna, 56, 57, 59, 60
Sawant Singh, Raja of Kishangarh, 103
Scroll paintings, 112
Sen, D.C., 121
Sen, R.N., 121
Sesha, serpent of eternity, a part of Vishnu, 27, 69, pl. 1
Shah Jahan, Mughal emperor, 99
Shahabaddin, Mewar artist, 100
Sher-Gil, Amrita, 112
Shiraz, 97
Sirmur, Punjab Hills, pl. 38 (comment)
Sisupala, claimant to Rukmini, rival of Krishna, 22, 56, 59, 66,
  pl. 18 (comment)
Sitwell, Sacheverell, 14
Siva, 17, 18, 37, 44, 58, 59, 64, 65, 67, pl. 2
Srinagar, Garhwal, 108
St. John of the Cross, 74, 75
Stchoukine, I, 121
_Studies in Indian Painting_, 121
Subhadra, sister of Krishna, 22, 64, 65
Sudama, brahman, early friend of Krishna, 62, 63, 108, pl. 19
Sudarsana, Celestial dancer, 40, 41
Sur Das, poet, 84, 86, pl. 29
Surabhi, cow of plenty, 40
Sursagar, Hindi poem, pl. 29
Surya, sun god, 18

Tagore, Rabindranath, 112
_Taking of Toll, The_, 121
_Ten Burnt Offerings_, 15
_Tess of the D'Urbervilles,_ 119
Trinavarta, whirlwind demon, 30

Udaipur, chief city, Mewar, 100, 101, 103-105, pl. 29 (comment)
Udho, friend of Krishna, 52-54, 68
Ugrasena, king of Mathura, 26, 48, 54, 57, 67, 69
Ugrasura, snake demon, 33
_Upanishads_, 17
Usa, daughter of demon Vanasura, 64

Vaikuntha, heaven of Vishnu, 18, 59
Vallabhacharya, poet, 84
Vamana, dwarf incarnation of Vishnu, 20
Vanasura, demon with a thousand arms, 64
Varuna, god of water, 18, 38, pl. 1
Vasudeva, Yadava prince, father of Krishna, husband of Devaki, brother of
  Kunti, 21, 27-31, 44, 46, 48-53, 62, 69, pl. 3
Vatsasura, cow demon, 33
Vedas, 39, 46, 56, 117
_Vedic Age, The_, 121
Victoria and Albert Museum, 98, pls. 30, 33, 34
Vidyapati, poet, 84, 87, 90, 111
Vishnu, 17-20, 26-29, 36, 39, 40, 45-47, 49, 56-58, 67, 69, 70, 76, 115,
  116, pl. 2 (comment)
_Vishnu Purana_, 25, 116, 117, pl. 8 (comment)
Visvakarma, divine architect, 54, 63
Vrishabhanu, father of Radha, 72
Vrishnis, kinsmen of Krishna, 23
Vyamasura, wolf demon, 45

Wellesz, E., 98
Williams, R.H.B., pl. 30 (comment)
Wilson, H.H., 116, 117
Winternitz, M., 121
_Wonder that was India, The_, 19, 115, 117, 121
Wrestlers, Krishna's conflict with, 44, 45, 48, pl. 17

Yadavas, pastoral caste, Krishna's castemen, 21, 26, 27, 45, 49-57, 61,
  62, 54, 66-69, 117, pls. 1 (comment), 2 (comment)
Yasoda, wife of Nanda, foster-mother of Krishna, 27-33, 35, 49, 51-53, 61,
  62, 72, 109
Yoga, 19, 23
Yudhisthira, leader of the Pandavas, husband of Draupadi, 21-23, 65, 66

THE PLATES

PLATE 1

_The Death of Balarama_

Illustration to the Persian abridgement of the
_Mahabharata_, the _Razmnama_ (or Book of the Wars)
By Basawan
Mughal (Akbar period), c. 1595
Collection H.H. the Maharaja of Jaipur, Jaipur

Although illustrations of the Hindu epic, the _Mahabharata_, were rarely
commissioned by Hindu patrons, the gigantic text possessed a unique appeal
to Indian minds and for this reason the Mughal emperor, Akbar, chose it
for translation into Persian. 'Having observed the fanatical hatred
prevailing between Hindus and Muslims,' writes his biographer, Abul Fazl,
'and convinced that it arose only from their mutual ignorance, the
enlightened monarch wished to dispel the same by rendering the books of
the former accessible to the latter.' The work of translation was begun in
1582 and was probably concluded in 1588 when Abul Fazl wrote the preface.
It is unlikely, however, that the illustrations were completed before
1595.

The present picture by one of Akbar's greatest Hindu artists illustrates
the sensitive naturalism which from antecedents in Khurasan came to
elegant maturity in Mughal India between 1585 and 1600. Certain
details--the drapery with its shaded folds, the steeples rising in the
distance--are modelled on the European Renaissance pictures which by 1580
had already reached the court. Other details such as the lithe squirrels
gambolling in the tree, the rearing snakes and dense luxuriant foliage can
only have been painted by an artist devoted to the Indian scene.

In subject, the picture represents what Krishna saw on his return from
destroying the Yadavas at Prabhasa. Balarama, his half-brother, has gone
down to the sea and has there yielded up his spirit. Sesha, the great
serpent, who is part of Vishnu himself, is now issuing from the body
Balarama having been his incarnation. Snakes come to greet him while
Varuna, the god of water, stands as 'an old man of the sea' ready to
escort him to his long home.

PLATE 2

_The Death of Krishna_

Illustration to the Persian abridgement of the
_Mahabharata_, the _Razmuama_ (or Book of the Wars)
By Mukund
Mughal (Akbar period), c. 1595
Collection H.H. the Maharaja of Jaipur, Jaipur

Following the death of Balarama, Krishna prepares to leave the world. He
sits in meditation and is shot in the sole of his right foot by Jara, a
Bhil hunter--the arrow which kills him being tipped with part of the iron
which has caused the destruction of the Yadavas.

The picture shows Krishna reclining on a platform of the kind still
constructed in India at the base of sacred trees. An arrow transfixes his
right foot while the hunter, dressed as a courtier in Mughal dress, is
shown releasing the bow. In front of Krishna stand four awe-struck
figures, representing the celestial sages and devotees of Vishnu who have
come to attend his passing. In the sky four gods look down. To the right
is Siva. Then, a little to the left, is four-headed Brahma, below him,
Indra, his body spotted with a thousand eyes and finally a fourth god of
uncertain identity. Around the platform surges the snarling sea as if
impatiently awaiting Krishna's death before engulfing the doomed Dwarka.

The painting is by a colleague of Basawan (Plate 1) and illustrates the
same great text.

PLATE 3

_The Slaughter of an Innocent_

Illustration to the _Bhagavata Purana_
Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790
J.K. Mody collection, Bombay

Following the expansion of Indian miniature painting in the early
seventeenth century, illustrated versions of the tenth book of the
_Bhagavata Purana_ began to be produced in parts of Hindu India. It was in
the Punjab Hills, at the end of the eighteenth century, however, that
romance and religion achieved their most delicate expression. The artist
chiefly responsible was a certain Nainsukh who had arrived at the State of
Guler in about 1740. His way of painting had marked affinities with that
of Basawan (Plate 1) and represents a blend of early Mughal naturalism
with later Hindu sentiment. The style founded by him influenced members of
his own family, including his nephew Kushala and ultimately spread to
Kangra and Garhwal where it reached its greatest heights. The present
picture, together with Plates 5, 6, 8, 9, 11 and 16, is possibly by the
Kangra artist Purkhu and with others of the series illustrates perhaps the
greatest interpretation of the _Bhagavata Purana_ ever produced in Indian
painting.

In the picture, the tyrant ruler Kansa is sleeping on a bed as a courtier
prepares to break the fateful news of Krishna's birth. To the right,
Devaki, Krishna's mother, nurses the baby girl whom her husband, Vasudeva,
has substituted for the infant Krishna. Kansa is wresting the baby from
her in order to dash its head against a boulder. As he does so, she eludes
his grasp and ascends to heaven in a flash, being, in fact, the
eight-armed goddess Devi.

PLATE 4

_Krishna stealing Butter_

Illustration to an incident from the _Bhagavata Purana_
Basohli, Punjab Hills, c. 1700
N.C. Mehta collection, Bombay

Besides illustrating the tenth book of the _Bhagavata Purana_ as a whole,
Indian artists sometimes chose isolated episodes and composed their
pictures around them. The present picture is an instance of this practice,
its subject being the baby Krishna pilfering butter. As Yasoda, Krishna's
foster-mother, goes inside the house, Krishna and the cowherd children
stage an impudent raid. A cowherd boy mounts a wooden mortar and then,
balanced on his shoulders, the young Krishna helps himself to the butter
which is kept stored in a pot suspended by strings from the roof. A second
cowherd boy reaches up to lift the butter down while edging in from the
right, a monkey, emblematic of mischievous thieving, shares in the spoil.

The picture illustrates the wild and vehemently expressive style of
painting which suddenly appeared at Basohli, a tiny State in the Punjab
Hills, towards the end of the seventeenth century. The jagged form of
Yasoda, cut in two by the lintel of the doorway, the stabbing lines of the
churning pole, grazing sticks and cords, as well as the sharp angles of
the house and its furniture, all contribute to a state of taut excitement.

PLATE 5

_The Felling of the Trees_

Illustration to the _Bhagavata Purana_
Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790
State Museum, Lucknow

From the same great series as Plate 3, here attributed to the Kangra
artist Purkhu.

The young Krishna, tied to a mortar to keep him out of mischief, has
dragged it between two trees and thereby uprooted them. The cowherds, led
by the bearded Nanda, Krishna's foster-father, have hurried to the scene
and Balarama, Krishna's half-brother, is excitedly pointing out that
Krishna is safe. In the foreground, emerging from the earth are two
crowned figures--Nala and Kuvara, the sons of the yaksha king, Kubera,
who, as a consequence of a curse had been turned into the two trees.
Doomed to await Krishna's intervention, they have now been released.
Reclining on the trunks, still tied to the mortar, the young Krishna
surveys the scene with pert satisfaction.

PLATE 6

_The Road to Brindaban_

Illustration to the _Bhagavata Purana_
Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790
National Museum, New Delhi

With Plates 3 and 5, part of the series attributed to Purkhu.

Led by Nanda, the majestic figure in the front bullock-cart, the cowherds
are moving a day's march across the River Jumna to enjoy the larger
freedom of Brindaban. Their possessions--bundles of clothes,
spinning-wheels, baskets of grain and pitchers--are being taken with them
and mounted with Yasoda on a second cart go the children, Balarama and
Krishna. With its great variety of stances, simple naturalism and air of
innocent calm, the picture exactly expresses the terms of tender
familiarity on which the cowherds lived with Krishna.

PLATE 7

_Krishna milking_

Illustration to the _Bhagavata Purana_
Garhwal, Punjab Hills, c. 1800
G.K. Kanoria collection, Calcutta

Like Plate 4, an illustration of an isolated episode. Krishna, having
graduated from tending the calves, is milking a cow, his mind filled with
brooding thoughts. A cowgirl restrains the calf by tugging at its string
while the cow licks its restive offspring with tender care. Other
details--the tree clasped by a flowering creeper, the peacock perched in
its branches--suggest the cowgirls' growing love. The image of tree and
creeper was a common symbol in poetry for the lover embraced by his
beloved and peacocks, thirsting for rain, were evocative of desire.

In style, the picture represents the end of the first great phase of
Garhwal painting (c. 1770-1804) when romantic themes were treated with
glowing ardour.

PLATE 8

_The Quelling of the Snake Kaliya_

Illustration to the _Bhagavata Purana_
Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790
J.K. Mody collection, Bombay

With Plates 3, 5 and 6, an example of Kangra painting in its most serene
form.

Krishna, having defied the hydra-headed snake whose poison has befouled
the River Jumna, is dancing in triumph on its sagging heads. The snake's
consorts plead for mercy--one of them holding out bunches of lotus
flowers, the others folding their hands or stretching out their arms in
mute entreaty. The river is once again depicted as a surging flood but it
is the master-artist's command of sinuous line and power of suffusing a
scene of turmoil with majestic calm which gives the picture greatness.

Although the present study is true to the _Bhagavata Purana_ where the
snake is explicitly described as vacating the water and meeting its end
on dry land, other pictures, notably those from Garhwal[129] follow the
_Vishnu Purana_ and show the final struggle taking place in the river
itself.

[Footnote 129: Reproduced A.K. Coomaraswamy, _Rajput Painting_ (Oxford,
1916), Vol. II, Plates 53 and 54.]

PLATE 9

_Balarama killing the Demon Pralamba_

Illustration to the _Bhagavata Purana_
Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790
National Museum, New Delhi

A further example from the Kangra series, here attributed to Purkhu.

As part of his war on Krishna and young boys, the tyrant Kansa sends
various demons to harry and kill them, the present picture showing four
stages in one such attack. To the right, the cowherd children, divided
into two parties, face each other by an ant-hill, Krishna with arms
crossed heading the right-hand group and Balarama the left. Concealed as a
cowherd in Krishna's party, the demon Pralamba awaits an opportunity of
killing Balarama. The second stage, in the right-hand bottom corner, shows
Balarama's party giving the other side 'pick-a-backs,' after having been
vanquished in a game of guessing flowers and fruit. The third stage is
reached in the top left-hand corner. Here Pralamba has regained his demon
form and is hurrying off with Balarama. Balarama's left hand is tightly
clutched but with his right he beats at the demon's head. The fourth and
final stage is illustrated in the bottom left-hand corner where Balarama
has subdued the demon and is about to slay him.

The picture departs from the normal version, as given in the _Bhagavata
Purana,_ by showing Balarama's side, instead of Krishna's, carrying out
the forfeits. According to the _Purana_, it was Krishna's side that lost
and since Pralamba was among the defeated, he was in a position to take
Balarama for a ride. It is likely, however, that in view of the other
episode in the _Purana_ in which Krishna humbles his favourite cowgirl
when she asks to be carried (Plate 14), the artist shrank from showing
Krishna in this servile posture so changed the two sides round.

PLATE 10

_The Forest Fire_

Illustration to an incident from the _Bhagavata Purana_
Basohli, Punjab Hills, c. 1680
Karl Khandalavala collection, Bombay

Under Raja Kirpal Pal (c. 1680-1693), painting at Basohli attained a
savage intensity of expression--the present picture illustrating the style
in its earliest and greatest phase. Surrounded by a ring of fire and with
cowherd boys and cattle stupefied by smoke, Krishna is putting out the
blaze by sucking the flames into his cheeks. Deer and pig are bounding to
safety while birds and wild bees hover distractedly overhead.

During his life among the cowherds, Krishna was on two occasions
confronted with a forest fire--the first, on the night following his
struggle with Kaliya the snake when Nanda, Yasoda and other cowherds and
cowgirls were also present and the second, following Balarama's encounter
with the demon Pralamba (Plate 10), when only cowherd boys were with him.
Since Nanda and the cowgirls are absent from the present picture, it is
probably the second of these two occasions which is illustrated.

For a reproduction in colour of this passionately glowing picture, see
Karl Khandalavala, _Indian Sculpture and Painting_ (Bombay, 1938) (Plate
10).

PLATE 11

_The Stealing of the Clothes_

Illustration to the _Bhagavata Purana_
Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790
J.K. Mody collection, Bombay

Despite the Indian delight in sensuous charm, the nude was only rarely
depicted in Indian painting--feelings of reverence and delicacy forbidding
too unabashed a portrayal of the feminine physique. The present picture
with its band of nude girls is therefore an exception--the facts of the
_Purana_ rendering necessary their frank inclusion.

The scene illustrated concerns the efforts of the cowgirls to win
Krishna's love. Bathing naked in the river at dawn in order to rid
themselves of sin, they are surprised by Krishna who takes their clothes
up into a tree. When they beg him to return them, he insists that each
should freely expose herself before him, arguing that only in this way can
they convince him of their love. In the picture, the girls are shyly
advancing while Krishna looks down at them from the tree.

PLATE 12

_The Raising of Mount Govardhana_

Illustration to an incident from the _Bhagavata Purana_
Garhwal, Punjab Hills, c. 1790
National Museum, New Delhi

With Plate 7, an example of Garhwal painting and its use of smoothly
curving line.

Krishna is lifting Mount Govardhana on his little finger and Nanda, the
cowherds and cowgirls are sheltering underneath. The occasion is Krishna's
slight to Indra, king of the gods and lord of the clouds, whose worship he
has persuaded the cowherds to abandon. Incensed at Krishna's action, Indra
has retaliated by sending storms of rain.

In the picture, Indra, a tiny figure mounted on a white elephant careers
across the sky, goading the clouds to fall in torrents. Lightning flickers
wildly and on Govardhana itself, the torn and shattered trees bespeak the
gale's havoc. Below all is calm as the cowherds acclaim Krishna's power.

PLATE 13

_Krishna with his Favourite after leaving the Dance_

Illustration to the _Bhagavala Purana_
Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790
J.K. Mody collection, Bombay

Besides Purkhu, at least two other master-artists worked at Kangra towards
the end of the eighteenth century--one, responsible for the present
picture and Plates 14 and 15, being still unknown. He is here referred to
as 'the master of the moonlight' on account of his special preoccupation
with moonlight effects.

The present picture shows Krishna and a girl standing by an inlet of the
River Jumna. The girl is later to be identified as Radha but in the
_Bhagavata Purana_ she is merely referred to as one who has been
particularly favoured, her actual name being suppressed. The moment is
some time after they have left the circular dance and before their sudden
separation. Krishna, whose hand rests on the girl's shoulder, is urging
her forward but the girl is weary and begs him to carry her. The incident
illustrates one of the vicissitudes in Radha and Krishna's romance and was
later to be endowed with deep religious meaning.

PLATE 14

_Krishna's Favourite deserted_

Illustration to the _Bhagavata Purana_
Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790
National Museum, New Delhi

From the same series as Plates 13 and 15 by 'the master of the moonlight.'

The girl's request (Plate 13) that Krishna should carry her brings to a
head the question of Krishna's proper status. To an adoring lover, the
request is not unreasonable. Made to God, it implies an excess of pride.
Despite their impassioned love-making, therefore, the girl must be humbled
and as she puts out her arms and prepares to mount, Krishna vanishes.

In the picture, the great woods overhanging the rolling Jumna are tilting
forward as if to join the girl in her agonized advances while around her
rise the bleak and empty slopes, their eerie loneliness intensified by
frigid moonlight.

PLATE 15

_The Quest for Krishna_

Illustration to the _Bhagavata Purana_
Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790
J.K. Mody collection, Bombay

By the same 'master of the moonlight' as Plates 13 and 14.

Krishna's favourite, stunned by his brusque desertion, has now been met by
a party of cowgirls. Their plight is similar to her own, for, after
enjoying his enchanting love, they also have been deserted when Krishna
left the dance taking his favourite with him. In the picture, Radha holds
her head in anguish while to the right the cowgirls look at her in mute
distress. Drooping branches echo their stricken love while a tree in the
background, its branches stretching wanly against the sky, suggests their
plaintive yearning.

PLATE 16

_The Eve of the final Encounter_

Illustration to the _Bhagavata Purana_
Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790
J.K. Mody collection, Bombay

From the same series as Plates 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 11, here attributed to
the Kangra artist Purkhu.

Invited by Kansa, the tyrant king, to attend a festival of arms, Nanda and
the cowherds have arrived at Mathura and pitched their tents outside the
walls. Krishna and Balarama are eating their evening meal by candle-light,
a cowherd, wearing a dark cloak to keep off the night air, is attending to
the bullocks while three cowherd boys, worn out by the day's march, rest
on string-beds under the night sky. In the background, Krishna and
Balarama, having finished their meal, are peacefully sleeping, serenely
indifferent to the struggle which awaits them the next day. The moon
waning in the sky parallels the tyrant's declining fortunes.

PLATE 17

_The End of the Tyrant_

Illustration to the _Bhagavata Purana_
Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790
Chester Beatty Library, Dublin

In the same style as Plate 16, but perhaps from a different series.

The festival of arms is now in progress but has already taken an
unexpected turn. Set on by the savage elephant, Krishna and Balarama have
killed it and taken out the tusks. They have then engaged two giant
wrestlers, Krishna killing his opponent outright. In the picture Balarama
is about to kill the other wrestler and Krishna, holding an elephant tusk
under his arm, looks at the king with calm defiance. The king's end is now
in sight for a little later Krishna will spring on the platform and hurl
him to his death. Gathered in the wide arena, townspeople from Mathura
await the outcome, while cowherd boys delightedly encourage the two
heroes.

PLATE 18

_The Rape of Rukmini_

Illustration to the _Bhagavata Purana_
Bilaspur, Punjab Hills, c. 1745
British Museum. London

Compared with Krishna's life among the cowherds, his adventures as a
prince were only scantily illustrated in Indian painting--his consort
Rukmini being totally eclipsed in courtly favour by the adored cowgirl,
Radha. The present picture--one of the very few to represent the
theme--shows Rukmini and her maids worshipping at the shrine to Devi, the
earth mother, on the morning of her wedding. Her proposed husband is
Sisupala and already he and his party have arrived to claim her hand. In
despair Rukmini has apprised Krishna of her fate but does not know that he
will intervene. As she worships, Krishna suddenly appears, places her on
his chariot and, in the teeth of Sisupala's forces, carries her away. The
picture illustrates the dramatic moment when after descending on the
shrine, Krishna effects her rescue.

The picture is in an eighteenth-century style of painting which, from
antecedents in Kashmir and the Punjab Plains, developed at Bilaspur. This
small Rajput State adjoined Guler in the Punjab Hills and shared in the
general revival of painting caused by the diffusion of artists from
Basohli.

PLATE 19

_Krishna welcoming the Brahman Sudama_

Illustration to the Sudama episode in the _Bhagavata Purana_
Garhwal, Punjab Hills, c. 1785
Chester Beatty Library, Dublin

Sudama is a poor Brahman whose devotion leads him to go to Dwarka, and
seek out Krishna. Krishna remembers the time when they had shared the same
preceptor and warmly welcomes him to his princely palace. The picture
shows Sudama in rags seated on a stool while Krishna washes his feet and
hails him as a Brahman. In close attendance are various ladies of the
court, their graceful forms transcribed with sinuous delicacy and suave
poetic charm.

Although an episode in Krishna's later career as a prince and one designed
to buttress the priestly caste of Brahmans, the story--with its emphasis
on loving devotion--is actually in close accord with Krishna's life among
the cowherds. For this reason, it probably continued to excite interest
long after other aspects of his courtly life had been ignored. In this
respect. Sudama's visit to Krishna is as much a parable of divine love as
Krishna's dances with the cowgirls.

PLATE 20

_The Beginnings of Romance_

Illustration to the _Gita Govinda_
Garhwal. Punjab Hills, c. 1790
National Museum, New Delhi

The first poem to celebrate Radha as Krishna's supreme love is the _Gita
Govinda_ of Jayadeva, written at the end of the twelfth century. The poem
recounts Radha's anguish at Krishna's fickleness, his subsequent
repentance and finally their passionate re-union.

The present picture with its glamorous interpretation of the forest in
spring illustrates the poem's opening verse and re-creates the setting in
terms of which the drama will proceed. Nanda, the tall figure towering
above the cowherd children, is commanding Radha to take Krishna home. The
evening sky is dark with clouds, the wind has risen and already the
flower-studded branches are swaying and bending in the breeze. Krishna is
still a young boy and Radha a girl a few years older. As Radha takes him
home, they loiter by the river, passion suddenly flares and they fall into
each other's arms. In this way, the verse declares, the loves of Radha and
Krishna began. The left-hand side of the picture shows the two lovers
embracing--the change in their attitudes being reflected in their altered
heights. Krishna who originally was shorter than Radha is now the taller
of the two, the change suggesting the mature character of their passionate
relations.

The picture with its graceful feminine forms and twining lines has the
same quality of rhythmical exaltation as Plates 19 and 35, a quality
typical of the Garwhal master-artist in his greatest phase.

PLATE 21

_Krishna playing on the Flute_

Illustration to the _Gita Govinda_
Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790
N.C. Mehta collection, Bombay

As Radha wilts in lonely anguish, a friend describes how Krishna is
behaving.

  'The wife of a certain herdsman sings as Krishna sounds a tune of love
  Krishna here disports himself with charming women given to love.'

In the picture, Radha sits beneath a flowering tree, conversing with the
friend while, to the right, Krishna plays the flute to a circle of adoring
girls.

The painting is by a Kangra master, perhaps Kushala, the nephew of the
Guler artist, Nainsukh, and illustrates the power of Kangra painters to
imbue with innocent delicacy the most intensely emotional of situations.
It was the investment of passion with dignity which was one of the chief
contributions of Kangra painting to Indian art.

PLATE 22

_Krishna dancing with the Cowgirls_

Illustration to the _Gita Govinda_
Western Rajasthan, c. 1610
N.C. Mehta collection, Bombay

Besides describing Krishna's flute-playing, Radha's friend gives her an
account of his love-making.

  'An artless woman looks with ardour on Krishna's lotus face.'
  'Another on the bank of the Jumna, when Krishna goes to a bamboo
    thicket,
  Pulls at his garment to draw him back, so eager is she for amorous
    play.'
  'Krishna praises another woman, lost with him in the dance of love,
  The dance where the sweet low flute is heard in the clamour of
    bangles on hands that clap. He embraces one woman, he kisses
    another, and fondles another beautiful one.'
  'Krishna here disports himself with charming women given to love.'

The present picture illustrates phases of this glamorous love-making--Krishna
embracing one woman, dancing with another and conversing with a third. The
background is a diagram of the forest as it might appear in spring--the
slack looseness of treatment befitting the freedom of conduct adumbrated
by the verse. The large insects hovering in the branches are the black
bees of Indian love-poetry whose quest for flowers was regarded as
symbolic of urgent lovers pestering their mistresses. In style the picture
illustrates the Jain painting of Western India after its early angular
rigidity had been softened by application to tender and more romantic
themes.

PLATE 23

_Krishna seated with the Cowgirls_

Illustration to the _Gita Govinda_
Jaunpur, Eastern India, c. 1590
Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay

After flute-playing and dancing (Plates 21 and 22), Krishna sits with the
cowgirls.

  'With his limbs, tender and dark like rows of clumps of blue lotus
    flowers.
  By herd girls surrounded, who embrace at pleasure any part of his body,
  Friend, in spring, beautiful Krishna plays like Love's own self
  Conducting the love sport, with love for all, bringing delight into
    being.'

And it is here that Radha finds him.

  'May the smiling captivating Krishna protect you, whom Radha, blinded
    by love,
  Violently kissed as she made as if singing a song of welcome saying,
  "Your face is nectar, excellent," ardently clasping his bosom
  In the presence of the fair-browed herdgirls dazed in the sport of love.'

The picture shows Krishna surrounded by a group of cowgirls, one of whom
is caressing his leg. To the right, Radha and the friend are approaching
through the trees. The style with its sharp curves and luxuriating
smartness illustrates a vital development of the Jain manner in the later
sixteenth century.[130]

[Footnote 130: For a first discussion of this important series, see a
contribution by Karl Khandalavala, 'A _Gita Govinda_ Series in the Prince
of Wales Museum,' _Bulletin of the Prince of Wales Museum. Bombay_ (1956),
No. 4.]

PLATE 24

_The neglected Radha_

Illustration to the _Gita Govinda_
Jaunpur, Eastern India, c. 1590
Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay

Following his revels with the cowgirls, Krishna is smitten with remorse.
He roams the forest, searching for the lovely Radha but finding her
nowhere. As he pursues his quest, he encounters the friend and learns of
Radha's dejected state.

  'Her body is wholly tormented by the heat of the flame of desire;
  But only of you, so loved, she thinks in her langour,
  Your extinguishing body; secluded she waits, all wasted--
  A short while, perhaps, surviving she lives.
  Formerly even a moment when weary she closed her eyes.
  The moment's parting she could not endure, from the sight of you;
  And now in this long separation, O how does she breathe
  Having seen the flowery branch of the mango, the shaft of Love?'

In the picture, Radha is sitting in the forest, lonely and neglected.
Trees surround her, suggesting by their rank luxuriance the upward surge
of spring while cranes, slowly winging their way in pairs across the
blackening sky, poignantly remind her of her former love.

PLATE 25

_Krishna repentant_

Illustration to the _Gita Govinda_
Garhwal, Punjab Hills, c. 1790

Learning of Radha's plight, Krishna longs to comfort her. Before
approaching her, however, he spends a night passionately dallying with
another cowgirl and only in the morning tenders his submission. By this
time, Radha's mood has turned to bitter anger and although Krishna begs to
be forgiven, Radha tells him to return to his latest love.

  'Go, Krishna, go. Desist from uttering these deceitful words.
  Follow her, you lotus-eyed, she who can dispel your trouble, go to her.'

In the picture, Krishna is striving to calm her ruffled feelings while
Radha, 'cruel to one who loves you, unbending to one who bows, angry with
one who desires, averting your face from this your lover,' has none of
him.

According to the poem, the scene of this tense encounter is not a palace
terrace but the forest--the Garhwal artist deeming a courtly setting more
appropriate for Radha's exquisite physique. The suavely curving linear
rhythm, characteristic of Garhwal painting at its best, is once again the
means by which a mood of still adoration is sensitively conveyed.

PLATE 26

_The last Tryst_

Illustration to the _Gita Govinda_
Basohli. Punjab Hills, c. 1730
State Museum, Lahore

Having brusquely dismissed Krishna, Radha is overcome with longing and
when he once again approaches her she showers on him her adoring love. The
friend urges her to delay no longer.

  'Your friends are all aware that you are ready for love's conflict
  Go, your belt aloud with bells, shameless, amorous, to the meeting.'

Radha succumbs to her advice and slowly approaches Krishna's forest bower.

In the picture, Krishna is impatiently awaiting her while Radha, urged
onward by the friend, pauses for a moment to shed her shyness. The picture
is part of an illustrated edition of the poem executed in Basohli in 1730
for a local princess, the lady Manaku. As in other Basohli paintings,
trees are shown as small and summary symbols, the horizon is a streak of
clouds and there is a deliberate shrinkage from physical refinement. The
purpose of the picture is rather to express with the maximum of power the
savagery of passion and the stark nature of lovers' encounters.

PLATE 27

_The closing Scene_

Illustration to the _Gita Govinda_
Basohli, Punjab Hills. c. 1730
Art Gallery, Chandigarh, East Punjab

From the same series as Plate 26.

After agonies of 'love unsatisfied,' Radha and Krishna are at last
reconciled.

  'She looked on Krishna who desired only her, on him who for long wanted
    dalliance,
  Whose face with his pleasure was overwhelmed and who was possessed with
    Desire,
  Who engendered passion with his face made lovely through tremblings of
    glancing eyes,
  Like a pond in autumn with a pair of wagtails at play in a fullblown
    lotus.
  Like the gushing of the shower of sweat in the effort of her travel to
    come to his hearing,
  Radha's eyes let fall a shower of tears when she met her beloved,
  Tears of delight which went to the ends of her eyes and fell on her
    flawless necklace.
  When she went near the couch and her friends left the bower, scratching
    their faces to hide their smiles,
  And she looked on the mouth of her loved one, lovely with longing, under
    the power of love,
  The modest shame of that deer-eyed one departed.'

In the picture, Radha and Krishna are again united. Krishna has drawn
Radha to him and is caressing her cheek while friends of Radha gossip in
the courtyard. As in Plate 25, the artist has preferred a house to the
forest--the sharp thrust of the angular walls exactly expressing the
fierceness of the lovers' desires.

PLATE 28

_Krishna awaiting Radha_

Illustration to the _Rasika Priya_ of Keshav Das
Bundi (Rajasthan), c. 1700
National Museum, New Delhi

Following the Sanskrit practice of discussing poetic taste, Keshav Das
produced in 1592 a Hindi manual of poetics. In this book, poems on love
were analysed with special reference to Krishna--Krishna himself
sustaining the role of _nayaka_ or ideal lover. During the seventeenth
century, illustrated versions of the manual were produced--poems appearing
at the top of the picture and the subjects being illustrated beneath. The
present picture treats Radha as the _nayika_ or ideal mistress and shows
her about to visit Krishna, She is, at first, seated on a bed but a little
later, is leaning against a pillar as a maid or friend induces her to
descend. In the left-hand bottom corner, Krishna sits quietly waiting. The
bower is hung with garlands and floored with lotus petals while lightning
twisting in the sky and torches flickering in the courtyard suggest the
storm of love. The figures with their neat line and eager faces are
typical of Bundi painting after it had broken free from the parent style
of Udaipur.

PLATE 29

_Radha and Krishna making Love_

Illustration to the _Sursagar_ of Sur Das
Udaipur, Rajasthan, c. 1650
G.K. Kanoria collection, Calcutta

Like Plate 28, an illustration to a Hindi poem analysing Krishna's conduct
as ideal lover.

Krishna is here embracing Radha while outside two of Radha's friends await
the outcome. Above them, two girls are watching peacocks--the strained
advances of the birds and the ardent gazes of the girls hinting at the
tense encounter proceeding in the room below.

The Udaipur style of painting with its vehement figures, geometrical
compositions and brilliant colouring was admirably suited to interpreting
scenes of romantic violence.

PLATE 30

_The Lover approaching_

Illustration to the _Rasamanjari_ of Bhanu Datta
Basohli, Punjab Hills, c. 1680
Victoria and Albert Museum, London (I.S. 52-1953)

Although the _Rasika Priya_ of Keshav Das was the manual of poetry most
frequently illustrated by Indian artists, an earlier Sanskrit treatise,
the _Rasamanjari_ of Bhanu Datta, excited a particular raja's interest and
resulted in the production at Basohli of a vividly illustrated text. The
original poem discusses the conventions of ordinary lovers. Under this
Basohli ruler's stimulus, however, the lover was deemed to be Krishna and
although the verses make no allusion to him, it is Krishna who monopolizes
the illustrations.

In the present instance, Krishna the lover, carrying a lotus-bud, is about
to visit his mistress. The lady sits within, a pair of lotus-leaves
protecting her nude bust, her hair falling in strands across her thighs. A
maid explains to Krishna that her mistress is still at her toilet and
chides him for arriving so abruptly.

The poem expresses the sentiments which a lover, denied early access,
might fittingly address to his mistress.

'Longing to behold your path, my inmost heart--like a lotus-leaf when a
new rain-cloud has appeared--mounts to your neck. My eye, too, takes
wing, soaring in the guise of a lotus-bird, to regard the moon of your
face.'[131]

[Footnote 131: Translation R.H.B. Williams.]

In the picture, the lotus imagery is retained but is given a subtle
twist--the lotus-leaves themselves, rather than the lover's inmost heart,
being shown as mounting to the lady's neck.

PLATE 31

_Radha extinguishing the Lamp_

Basohli, Punjab Hills, c. 1690
Bharat Kala Bhawan, Benares

Although no inscription has so far been published, it is likely that this
picture is an illustration to the _Rasamanjari_ of Bhanu Datta. The lover
is once again Krishna and the girl most probably Radha. Krishna is
inviting her to extinguish the lamp so that they may better enjoy the
excitements of darkness.

With its air of violent frenzy, the picture is typical of Basohli painting
at the end of the seventeenth century--the girl's wide-flung legs and
rushing movements symbolizing the frantic nature of passionate desire.

PLATE 32

_The Month of Asarh (June-July)_

Illustration to a _Barahmasa_ (or Cycle of the Months)
Bundi, Rajasthan, c. 1750
Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay

In Hindi poetry, lovers were sometimes described against a background of
the twelve months--each month suggesting a different kind of mood or
behaviour. Such poems known as _Barahmasa_ (barah, twelve; masa, month)
were sometimes illustrated--a princely lover and his lady being shown
seated on a terrace with the sights and scenes appropriate to the month
going on around. When this lover was identified with Krishna, any aspect
of love was regarded as, in some degree, expressive of his character.

The present picture portrays the beginning of the Rains. The sky is black
with clouds. On a lake lovers dally in a tiny pavilion, while in the
background two princes consult a hermit before leaving on their travels.
The rainy season was associated in poetry with love in separation and for
this reason a lonely girl is shown walking in a wood. In a garden pavilion
Krishna dallies with Radha, the approaching rain augmenting their desire.

PLATE 33

_Radha and Krishna swinging_

Illustration to the musical mode. _Hindola Raga_
('the swinging music')
Malwa, Middle India, c. 1750
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

A poem celebrating one of the main modes of Indian music is here
represented by Radha and Krishna seated on a swing. The mode itself is
called 'the swinging music' but since swinging was symbolical of
love-making and also took place during the rains, the season of longing,
its spirit was sometimes impersonated not by an ordinary prince but by
Krishna himself. In the picture, peacocks, which were common symbols for
the lover, are shown against a storm-tossed sky--the battered clouds and
writhing lightning being symbolic references to 'the strife of love.' At
the foot, lotus plants, their flowers symbolizing the male, their leaves
the female, rise from a rain-filled river.

The picture represents one of the more poetic traditions of Indian
painting but at a comparatively late stage of its development. During the
sixteenth century the Malwa style had played a decisive part in the
evolution of Rajput painting, but by the eighteenth century had shed
something of its early ardour.

PLATE 34

_Krishna attended by Ladies_

Illustration to the musical mode, _Bhairava Raga_
Hyderabad. Deccan, c. 1750
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Like Plate 33, an illustration to a poem accompanying a leading mode of
Indian music. Krishna is sitting on a bed while Radha is rubbing his right
arm with sandal preparatory to making love. In the foreground a maid is
grinding the sandalwood into a paste. Although the poem itself contains no
mention of Krishna, it speaks of Bhairava--a form of Siva--as a raging
lover, 'insensate in a whirlwind of desire.' On this account
Krishna--identified by his blue skin--has been inserted in the picture,
his character as a lover according with the frenzied character of the
poem. In the background a bullock is lifting water from a well and a
gardener is bending over a bed of poppies. Ducks and fishes sport in the
water.

Illustrations to modes of music were common features of the Muslim art of
the Deccan--the association of certain modes with Krishna being carefully
preserved. One of the finest series of _raga_ and _ragini_ pictures
executed at Hyderabad and now in the India Office Library, London,
contains exquisite versions with Krishna themes.

PLATE 35

_Radha disguised as a Constable arresting Krishna as a Thief_

Garhwal, Punjab Hills, c. 1785
Indian Museum, Calcutta

Tired of Krishna's attempts to waylay the cowgirls, Radha dons a turban,
brandishes a constable's heavy staff and seizes Krishna by the wrist. 'I
am a policeman of Raja Kansa, come to take you to gaol,' she says. The
picture shows the cowgirls standing with their pitchers of curd, while
cowherd boys--Krishna's accomplices--take to their heels. Krishna himself
stands limply by, as if uncertain who the constable is.

The incident is unrecorded in the _Bhagavata Purana_ but appears in later
poetry as an instance of Radha and Krishna's mutual fun--teasing being an
essential part of their love-making.

The picture is by the same master artist as Plate 19.

PLATE 36

_Krishna meeting Radha_

Illustration to a poem from the _Sat Sai_ of Bihari
Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790
N.C. Mehta collection. Bombay

An example of Krishna's meetings with Radha. Appearing as if by accident
Krishna is lolling on his cowherd's stick while Radha, encouraged by a
friend, has come to meet him. As she stands, there ensues that idyllic
'meeting of eyes' which Indian sentiment regarded as one of the most
electrifying experiences in romance. In the picture, a tree pushes its
flowering branches across open rolling slopes, suggesting by its fresh
upsurgence the exquisite emotions stirring in Radha's and Krishna's
hearts.

The picture is most probably by the Kangra artist, Kushala, to whom Plate
21 may also be assigned.

PLATE 37

_Radha's Longing_

Guler, Punjab Hills, c. 1810
Bharat Kala Bhawan, Banaras

In Indian painting and poetry, it was women driven to distraction by
unappeased longing rather than men hungry with desire who formed the chief
subject of romantic art. Pictures focussed on woman in all her varied
moods and flattered the male mind by portraying her wilting with sadness
when deprived of husband or lover.

The present picture shows Radha frenziedly contemplating her lonely state.
Ornaments grown too hot for wearing--from the passion burning in her
heart--are strewn about the bed, while hands tightly clasped suggest her
wild unhappy torment. The vast and barren hills, empty angular buildings,
tiny guttering candles and lonely flowering tree provide a sympathetic
setting.

With its sinuous line and innocent delight in feminine form, the picture
is typical of Guler painting at the start of the nineteenth century.

PLATE 38

_Radha and Krishna returning in the Rain_

Nahan, Punjab Hills, c. 1820
State Museum, Lahore.

A scene from Radha and Krishna's idyllic life together. Caught by a gale
of wind and rain, the lovers are hurrying to shelter, Krishna carrying a
leaf umbrella while cows and cowherds bend before the storm. In the
distance, small figures wearing hooded cloaks hasten towards the village.
Although keenly evocative of actual landscapes in the Punjab Hills--where
palaces were usually set on rocky hill-tops with nearby villages
clustering at their feet--the picture's main concern is to illustrate and
interpret the lovers' feelings. The black clouds lit by eerie lightning
and the trees tossing and swaying in the wind symbolize the passion raging
in their hearts and suggest its ultimate outcome.

The picture represents a style of painting which is thought to have grown
up at Nahan, the capital of Sirmur, after its neighbour, Garhwal, had been
overrun by Gurkhas in 1804. Garhwal artists probably sought asylum at the
Sirmur court and there developed a distinctive offshoot of the Garhwal
manner.

PLATE 39

_The Triumph of Radha_

Kishangarh, Rajasthan, c. 1770
C.K. Kanoria collection, Calcutta

During the eighteenth century, Radha was often regarded as Krishna's
permanent consort and was accorded divine honours--the present picture
illustrating her final apotheosis. Seated together, their heads surrounded
by haloes, the two lovers display their courtly charms. Krishna has now
the mannered luxury of a high-born prince and Radha, no longer the simple
cowgirl, is the very embodiment of aristocratic loveliness. As the lovers
sit together, their forms offset by a carpet of lotus petals, Krishna
attempts to put betel-nut in Radha's mouth--the gesture subtly indicating
their loving intimacy.

SOURCES

Frontispiece. By courtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and of
Messrs Faber and Faber.

1, 2. Hendley, _Memorials of the Jeypore Exhibition, IV, the Razm Namah_.

5. By courtesy of State Museum, Lucknow and of Mr. M.M. Nagar.

6, 12, 20, 28. Archeological Survey of India, New Delhi.

10, 19, 30, 33, 34. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

18. Stchoukine, _La Peinture Indienne_.

22, 26, 31, 38. Messrs. A.C. Cooper Ltd, London.

23, 24. By courtesy of the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay and of Dr. Moti
Chandra.

25. _Journal of Indian Art_, Vol. XVI, 116.

27. By courtesy of Mr. M.S. Randhawa, I.C.S.

39. By courtesy of Mr. Gopi Krishna Kanoria.

3, 4, 7-9, 11, 13-17, 21, 29, 32, 35-37. Author's photographs.