Krishna's Earthly Ties: Page from a Dispersed Manuscript Bivamangalastava

1695-01-01T00:00:00Z

The content of this painting is explained by the inscription at the top from the Bivamangalastava: “On earth there are in all probability only three hitching posts for the elephant called Murari [one of the names of Krishna]: the wooden mortar, the mind of the ascetics, and the budlike breasts of milkmaids.” At the upper left, Amar Singh II is presented having this vision. The blue figure of Krishna is shown dragging a wooden mortar toward his foster mother, Yashoda, while below an ascetic sits on the riverbank near the elephant Murari. The bold red color field, contrasting river, and high horizon reference archaic painting modes.