c. 1825

Arjuna and Krishna Advance Against the Kauravas

In this scene of the great battle of the Mahabharata, the Pandava prince Arjuna takes center stage, standing in his charging chariot and shooting from a massive bow. Arjuna's charioteer, Krishna, does not resemble the other warriors but appears here in his true form as the god Vishnu's dark-skinned, dressed in a saffron-colored garment, and blowing on his identifying implement, the conch shell. The battle, although replete with gruesome severed heads that spurt blood, is nevertheless amazingly well ordered, as are the arrows that cover the picture plane with the regularity of woven fabric.