c. 1680

Krishna's Manifest Endeavor

Colorful carpets and other textiles fill this painting from a dispersed series of the Rasikapriya, a text on love-rhetoric written in 1591 by Keshavadasa, court poet to the king of Orchha in central India. The Rasikapriya can be read on two levels, the human and the divine, since its hero is the god Krishna and its heroine is Krishna’s favorite, Radha. Here Radha’s sakhi (friend) confronts the blue-skinned god on behalf of the heroine, who waits in the second pavilion. The sakhi reminds Krishna that he has used many tactics to win Radha and asks why he hesitates to go to her now that she is nearby and waiting. While the scene takes place entirely in an enclosed architectural complex, the many flower-filled carpets evoke the verdant, blossoming trees that lie beyond the walls. The palace, in effect, is transformed into a fertile garden in bloom, an appropriate metaphor for Krishna and Radha’s relationship.