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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am deeply indebted to Dr. A.L. Basham for generous guidance throughout the preparation of this book, to George Keyt for permitting me to quote extensively from his brilliant translation of the Gita Govinda , and to Deben Bhattacharya who supplied me with new translations of later poems and discussed a number of important points. I must also express my deep gratitude to Mildred Archer and to Gopi Krishna Kanoria for valued criticism and advice, to Messrs. Faber and Faber, the Harvill Press, Mes
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
During the twentieth century, a certain type of Indian painting began to fascinate the West. Unlike Mughal art, it was a product of Hindu courts in Rajasthan and the Punjab Hills and unlike Mughal painting, its chief concern was with the varied phases of romance. Ladies would be shown brooding in their chambers as storm clouds mounted in the sky. A girl might be portrayed desperately fondling a plantain tree, gripping a pet falcon, the symbol of her lover, or hurrying through the rainy darkness
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THE MAHABHARATA: KRISHNA THE HERO
THE MAHABHARATA: KRISHNA THE HERO
The first reference to Krishna occurs in the Chandogya Upanishad of perhaps the sixth century B.C. Upanishads were 'forest sittings' or 'sessions with teachers.' Sages and their disciples discussed the nature of life and strove to determine the soul's exact relationship to God. The starting-point was the theory of re-incarnation. Death, it was believed, did not end the soul. Death was merely a stepping-stone to another life, the soul moving from existence to existence in one long effort to escap
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THE BHAGAVATA PURANA: THE COWHERD
THE BHAGAVATA PURANA: THE COWHERD
The Bhagavata Purana is couched in the form of a dialogue between a sage and a king. The king is the successor of the Pandavas but is doomed to die within a week for having by accident insulted a holy ascetic. To ensure his salvation, he spends the week listening to the Bhagavata Purana and concentrating his mind on Krishna whom he declares to be his helper. [11] Book Ten begins by describing the particular situation which leads to Krishna's birth. The scene is Mathura, a town in northern India,
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THE BHAGAVATA PURANA: THE PRINCE
THE BHAGAVATA PURANA: THE PRINCE
The death of Kansa brings to a close the first phase of Krishna's career. His primary aim has now been accomplished. The tyrant whose excesses have for so long vexed the righteous is dead. Earth's prayer has been granted. Krishna has reached, in fact, a turning-point in his life and on what he now decides the rest of his career depends. If he holds that his earthly mission is ended, he must quit his mortal body, resume his sublime celestial state and once again become the Vishnu whose attributes
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THE KRISHNA OF POETRY
THE KRISHNA OF POETRY
During the next two hundred years, from the tenth to the twelfth century, the Krishna story completely alters. It is not that the facts as given in the Bhagavata Purana are disputed. It is rather that the emphasis and view-point are changed. Krishna the prince and his consort Rukmini are relegated to the background and Krishna the cowherd lover brought sharply to the fore. Krishna is no longer regarded as having been born solely to kill a tyrant and rid the world of demons. His chief function no
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THE KRISHNA OF PAINTING
THE KRISHNA OF PAINTING
Indian pictures of Krishna confront us with a series of difficult problems. The most exalted expressions of the theme are mainly from Kangra, a large Hindu state within the Punjab Hills. [66] It was here that Krishna, the cowherd lover, was most fully celebrated. Pictures were produced in large numbers and the Kangra style with its delicate refinement exactly mirrored the enraptured poetry of the later cult. This painting was due entirely to a particular Kangra ruler, Raja Sansar Chand (1775-182
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NOTES
NOTES
Note 1 , p. 13 . For a further discussion of these two main kinds of Indian expression, see my Indian Painting (Iris, Batsford, London, 1956). Note 2 14 In Indian painting, Krishna is normally blue or mauve in colour, though cases occur in which he is black, green or dark brown. Black would seem to follow from Krishna's name—the word 'Krishna' meaning 'black'—and may have been applied either because he sprang from a black hair of Vishnu or because he was born at midnight, 'black as a thunderclou
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
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 Paint
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PLATE 1
PLATE 1
The Death of Balarama 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 r
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PLATE 2
PLATE 2
The Death of Krishna 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
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PLATE 3
PLATE 3
The Slaughter of an Innocent 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 ma
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PLATE 4
PLATE 4
Krishna stealing Butter 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
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PLATE 5
PLATE 5
The Felling of the Trees 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
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PLATE 6
PLATE 6
The Road to Brindaban 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
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PLATE 7
PLATE 7
Krishna Milking 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 embra
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PLATE 8
PLATE 8
The Quelling of the Snake Kaliya 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 comman
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PLATE 9
PLATE 9
Balarama killing the Demon Pralamba 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 Pr
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PLATE 10
PLATE 10
The Forest Fire 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 occas
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PLATE 11
PLATE 11
The Stealing of the Clothes 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 t
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PLATE 12
PLATE 12
The Raising of Mount Govardhana 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
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PLATE 13
PLATE 13
Krishna with his Favourite after leaving the Dance 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 i
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PLATE 14
PLATE 14
Krishna's Favourite deserted 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 ov
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PLATE 15
PLATE 15
The Quest for Krishna 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 whil
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PLATE 16
PLATE 16
The Eve of the final Encounter 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,
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PLATE 17
PLATE 17
The End of the Tyrant 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. T
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PLATE 18
PLATE 18
The Rape of Rukmini 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
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PLATE 19
PLATE 19
Krishna welcoming the Brahman Sudama 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 episod
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PLATE 20
PLATE 20
The Beginnings of Romance 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 towerin
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PLATE 21
PLATE 21
Krishna playing on the Flute 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 il
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PLATE 22
PLATE 22
Krishna dancing with the Cowgirls 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 cla
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PLATE 23
PLATE 23
Krishna seated with the Cowgirls 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 Ra
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PLATE 24
PLATE 24
The neglected Radha 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 mome
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PLATE 25
PLATE 25
Krishna repentant 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 th
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PLATE 26
PLATE 26
The last Tryst 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
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PLATE 27
PLATE 27
The closing Scene 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
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PLATE 28
PLATE 28
Krishna awaiting Radha 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 m
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PLATE 29
PLATE 29
Radha and Krishna making Love 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 admira
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PLATE 30
PLATE 30
The Lover approaching 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,
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PLATE 31
PLATE 31
Radha extinguishing the Lamp 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 s
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PLATE 32
PLATE 32
The Month of Asarh (June-July) 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, exp
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PLATE 33
PLATE 33
Radha and Krishna swinging 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 bat
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PLATE 34
PLATE 34
Krishna attended by Ladies 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 ins
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PLATE 35
PLATE 35
Radha disguised as a Constable arresting Krishna as a Thief 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 unrecord
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PLATE 36
PLATE 36
Krishna meeting Radha 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'
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PLATE 37
PLATE 37
Radha's Longing 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 ab
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PLATE 38
PLATE 38
Radha and Krishna returning in the Rain 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 pictu
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PLATE 39
PLATE 39
The Triumph of Radha 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
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SOURCES
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 Muse
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