Krishna The Divine Lover

[Guest guest]

This piece was put together by me a long time back. Hope it is

enjoyed.

 

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Krishna The Divine Lover

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The major gods in Indian art traditions have all been given consorts.

They are rarely described as celibate recluses. In their incarnate

form they are explicit in their demonstrative attraction for the

opposite sex. The goddesses do not lag behind. Their love for their

husbands or lovers is often portrayed in an assertively earthy and

sensual manner. Gods and goddesses represent a conscious duality,

complementing each other.

 

Krishna was physically irresistibly appealing. Ancient texts dwell at

length on his exceptionally alluring countenance: a blue complexion

soft like the monsoon cloud, shining locks of black hair framing a

beautifully chiseled face, large lotus like eyes, wild -flower

garlands around his neck, a yellow garment (pitambara) draped around

his body, a crown of peacock feathers on his head, and a smile

playing on his lips, it is in this manner that he is faithfully

represented since the ancient times to the modern.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/archives/hm03sm.jpg

 

Much as in the Christian art of Medieval Europe, it is woman the

Mother, the Madonna suckling a babe who has been painted with

reverence, in the Indian Diaspora it is woman the beloved who has

been painted with love and passion. The female friends of Krishna

with their warm sensuous faces, eyes filled with passion, and

delicate sensitive fingers, represent not the beauty of a particular

woman, but the beauty of entire womanhood. In fact, she is there as

the incarnation of all the beauty of the world and as a

representative of the charm of her sex.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/artimages/wp04.jpg

 

In the embrace of Krishna, the gopis, maddened with desire, found

refuge; in their love dalliance with him who was the master in all

the sixty-four arts of love, the gopis felt a thrill indescribable;

and in making love with him in that climatic moment of release, in

that one binding moment, they felt that joy and fulfillment which

could not but be an aspect of the divine. Through their experience,

thus, the erotic the carnal and the profane became but an aspect of

the sublime, the spiritual and the divine. This cumulative myth

sustained one basic point: for women, Krishna was a personal god,

always accessible and unfailingly responsive. He was a god specially

made for women. In the popular psyche, Krishna and Radha became the

universal symbol for the lover and the beloved. Krishna was the ideal

hero, and Radha the ideal heroine.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/artimages/wp05.jpg

 

Often the colorful legends surrounding his amorous adventures

with female friends prove to be of supreme inspiration to artists. The

following tale describing Krishna teasing the gopis by making away

with their clothes while they were bathing in the river is one such

example:

 

According to tradition, unmarried girls from ten to fourteen

years of age worship the Goddess Durga in order to fulfil their

desire for a suitable husband. But the unmarried girls of Vrindavana

were already attracted by the beauty of Krishna. Thus they daily

worshipped goddess Durga early in the morning after taking a bath in

the river Yamuna, and supplicated the goddess to arrange for their

match with Krishna.

 

Each morning, the gopis would assemble together at the banks of

Yamuna and, holding one another's hands, loudly sing of the wonderful

pastimes of lord Krishna before entering the river. It is an old

system among Indian girls and women that when they take a bath in the

river they place their garments on the bank and dip into the water

completely naked. The portion of the river where the girls and women

bathe was strictly prohibited to any male, and this is still the

system in some parts.

 

One day Krishna appeared on the scene with his friends. Observing

the garments left on the bank by the bathing gopis, he immediately

collected all the garments, climbed up a nearby tree, and with a

smiling face spoke to them thus: "My dear girls, please come here one

after another and pray for your garments and then take them away. I'm

not joking with you, just telling the plain truth. Please don't come

here all at once. Come alone one by one; I want to see each of you in

your complete beauty, for you all have thin waists."

 

When the girls in the water heard such joking words from Krishna,

they began to look at one another and smile. Though outwardly showing

resentment they were joyous to hear such a request because they were

already in love with him. They then addressed him : " Do not joke

with us in this way, it is unjust to us. You are a very respectable

boy and very dear to us, so kindly deliver our garments immediately

because we are all shivering from the cold water, and end our

suffering."

 

But all their supplications could not convince Krishna. Seeing

that Krishna was strong and determined, they had no alternative but to

abide by his command. One after another they came out of the water,

but because they were naked, they tried to cover their nakedness with

their soft hands. On observing this Krishna chided the gopis,

addressing them thus: " My dear girls, you have committed a great

offence by going naked in this holy river, because of this the

presiding deity of this holy river is displeased with you. Therefore

to please this deity touch your forehead with folded palms and ask

for his forgiveness." The gopis were all simple souls, and whatever

Krishna said they took to be true. They followed his command, but in

doing so exposed their nakedness in all its beauty to Krishna's gaze,

which was exactly what Krishna desired.

 

All the unmarried gopis who prayed to Goddess Durga to have Krishna as

their husband were thus satisfied. A woman cannot be naked before any

male except her husband. The unmarried gopis desired Krishna as their

husband, and he fulfilled their desire in this way.

 

This remarkably simple and sensuous story has inspired generations of

artists, one such artwork can be viewed at

 

http://www.exoticindiaart.com/artimages/kp02.jpg

 

The India art tradition visualises the love adventures of gods and

their female friends because it acknowledges that sex is the supreme

fact in life, which provides the urge to procreate and maintain the

species. It is concealed like lightning in a cloud, and in its glow

is the birth of art, literature and science. Sex union among lovers

is the most exalted experience in life, and in mutual ecstasy the

liberation of the soul from the narrow 'self' takes place. This is

the supreme experience of lovers as well as mystics. That is why in

describing the union of God and soul, the extremely beautiful imagery

of man and woman is employed by mystic saints and artists. Thus we

see that the classification of love into 'carnal' and 'spiritual' is

arbitrary and unwarranted for the so called 'spiritual' love has its

roots in the so called 'physical' love. This art thus sanctifies

human love and places it on a par with divine love. In it we find

sacredness wedded to sensuous joy.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/artimages/hp09.jpg

 

It is not a spiritual art where spirit and body are regarded as two

separate entities. It is not gloomy, cold and forbidding, but is an

art which is a happy blend of the sensuous and the spiritual. The

spirituality is not chilled by an asceticism which is disdainful of

female loveliness and the delights of love. In fact, its spirituality

very much based on flesh and blood. It is an art which glorifies

female beauty and revels in the loveliness of the female form.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/artimages/hp42.jpg

 

The knitting together of form and color into a coordinated harmony is

the hallmark of this art. Form and color are so blended that the

effect is musical. To achieve such a harmony, the artist uses both

line and color in these paintings. The line which he uses is the

musical rhythmical line, which express both movement and mass,

representing the flow and ardor of impassioned love. The type of line

which Blake admired, and regarded as the golden rule of art is

this: " The more distinct, sharp, and wiry the bounding line, the

more perfect the work of art, and the less keen and sharp, the

greater is evidence of weak imagination." And what a rhythm these

dancing lines create, a pure limpid harmony! That is why these

pictures are so comforting and so soothing like the concertos of

Bach and Mozart. This line is effectively supplemented by colors-the

blues, yellows, greens, and reds, the pure colors of earth and

minerals, which shine like jewels.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/artimages/hp37.jpg

 

(This article was sent as a newsletter from the website

http://www.exoticindiaart.com)

 

Nitin G.

[Guest guest]

On 6/25/01 at 4:14 PM sanjulag wrote:

 

ºThis piece was put together by me a long time back. Hope it is

ºenjoyed.

 

Thanks for posting - most enjoyable - hope you don't mind the delayed response.

º

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ºKrishna The Divine Lover

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º

ºThe major gods in Indian art traditions have all been given consorts.

ºThey are rarely described as celibate recluses. In their incarnate

ºform they are explicit in their demonstrative attraction for the

ºopposite sex. The goddesses do not lag behind. Their love for their

ºhusbands or lovers is often portrayed in an assertively earthy and

ºsensual manner. Gods and goddesses represent a conscious duality,

ºcomplementing each other.

[...]

 

A description, pointing at the fact that physical, mental and spiritual maturity

once coincided. Only possible when childhood conditioning doesn't exceed the

"auto repair" function. Spiritual maturity equals 'realization' and this means

'happiness'. As goes for most mammals, when happy, that is the 'hard wired

conditioning' for procreation, whether conscious of it or not - seemingly

multiply happiness - hence, no (more) celibacy issue... Of course this gives

another perspective on cases of perceived 'abuse' too...

 

Life would be weird indeed if 'realization' would require seclusion, life-long

celibacy, practices of detachment - any practice at all, apart from the

rock-solid faith that there is only Love ("the" childhood gift), accepting

the consequences and living up to that... In order to become a practitioner,

the practice has to be loved... In order to become a follower, the example

to follow has to be loved... Etc. etc...

Why 'just' be satisfied with 'products' of Love when there is Love itself?

 

Joy and Light,

Jan