The Loves of Krishna in Indian Painting and PoetryArcher, W. G. (William George)
Religion
The Loves of Krishna in Indian Painting and Poetry
Archer, W. G. (William George)
Hindu gods in art; Hindu painting -- India; Krishna (Hindu deity); Sanskrit poetry -- History and criticism
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.
[Illustration]
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.
[Illustration]
PLATE 28
_Krishna awaiting Radha_
Illustration to the _Rasika Priya_ of Keshav Das
Bundi (Rajasthan), c. 1700
National Museum, New Delhi
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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