krishna the Divine Lover in Indian art

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Krishna The Divine Lover in Indian Art

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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

(13.3 kb)

 

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/panels/wp04.jpg (71.1 kb)

 

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 :

ttp://www.exoticindiaart.com/panels/wp05.jpg (62.9 kb)

 

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/hindu/kp02.jpg (95.8 kb)

 

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/hindu/hp09.jpg (93.3 kb)

 

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/hindu/hp42.jpg (58.0 kb)

 

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/hindu/hp37.jpg (55.9

kb)

 

A good collection of Radha Krishna paintings can be found at :

http://www.exoticindiaart.com/hindu