THE BHAGAVAD GITA - An Artist's Rendition in Copper

May 12, 2004

Why the Srimad Bhagavad-Gita?

To me the intrinsic beauty of this Scripture is that its knowledge applies to all human beings and does not postulate any sectarian ideology or secular view. It is approachable from the sanctified realms of all religions and is glorified as the epitome of all spiritual teachings.

While various commentaries have been written on the Bhagavad-Gita, it is the reading the original text in itself that inspires the spirit. I believe it is by reading the written word of this Scripture that when we need revelation of our own hearts, we make its direct Word a sword and a judge to give us courage to understand and act on it.

I understand that the primary reason for the repeated reading of the Bhagavad-Gita is to establish a personal relationship with the Author of this Scripture and the spirit of the reader. I celebrate this personal relationship by my use of copper as a medium to depict a timeless message; in a metal that is pure, lasting and beautiful, for generations to cherish.

Details

All eighteen chapters of the Bhagavad-Gita have been etched in a total of four copper plates.

Each Plate:

Size

Height: 45.5 inches Width:20 inches

Medium

Copper, antique-tarnished effect, lacquered.

Technique

Hand etched with color highlighting - achieved by the

traditional palm leaf (Pothi) etching technique of Orissa.

Mount

Pure silk

Frame

Genuine quality wood

Plate I

Chapters :

1 – 3 162 shlokas

Illustration :

Chaturbhuja Vishnu

The original manifestation of the Divine Being of which Krisna is an incarnation.

Plate II

Chapters :

4 – 8 176 shlokas

Illustration :

Arjuna questioning Krisna.

Overwhelmed by grief, Arjuna sitting down in the chariot in the state of despondency. His charioteer, Lord Krisna then preaches him, which is the subject matter of the Geeta.

Plate III

Chapters :

9 – 13 185 shlokas

Plate IV

Chapters :

14 – 19 177 shlokas

Illustration :

Krisna blessing Arjuna

In giving the Geeta upadesha, Krisna reveals his divine form to Arjuna.

For a more detailed view of the plates:

http://www.foundationforheritageawarenessandresearch.org/geetadetail.html

For price information and placing an order:

drsunilasharma@foundationforheritageawarenessandresearch.org

What Krisna means to me?

Krisna says, “Know that all opulent, beautiful and glorious creations spring from but a spark of My splendour. But what need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? With a single fragment of Myself, I pervade and support this entire universe.” (Bg.10: 41-42)

As an artist, I understood and believed these words – taking a single fragment of Him; His words, I created what represents Him in the purest, the most profound way – I wrote the Bhagavad-Gita in my medium of expression. In an attempt to create value and beauty together- through his words; a spark of his splendour!

Why I choose to write A Scripture using copper as my medium of expression?

As a student of linguistics I understood that by reading the Scripture, the original text is active and operational within the reader; that written Word emerges energized and becomes personal and vibrantly alive! While examining a Scripture in several translations, it is always the all-precious original text that activates important clues as to what the Author may have really intended.

I have been using copper as a metaphor for Indian culture. An easily malleable and conductive medium, to me copper is a symbol of long periods of transitions in our culture depicting and assimilating outside influences with great grace and warmth. In the ancient Hindu context it is believed that Copper stimulates the flow of energy, providing more vitality and amplified thoughts.

Thus through my medium I create a certain continuity and permanence between the time in which the Scripture was written and the present. My communion is not with the Author alone, but through him, with the reader/ possessor of these plates too. With the use copper, I bring a color and resiliency to the expression that is as vibrant and as palpable as the culture in which the Scripture is alive.

About me

Sunila Sharma

Indian born 1968.

I graduated from Jawaharlal Nehru University with an honors degree in German language in 1991. I received a Masters in German language from the same university two years later. Having studied a foreign language and linguistics for five years, I went on to writing a thesis probing the expression of the Absolute in Non-dual philosophy (Advaita Vedanta) for which I received a PhD from Minnesota, U.S. I studied the problems of Religious discourse –of its attempt to speak about the Absolute, God, Truth, and similar enigmatic ideas that can and cannot be expressed in language. Since it uses ordinary language of day-to-day discourse in an extraordinary way, I analyzed the language and problem areas of religious discourses in Advaita Vedanta.

My discovery and self-taught techniques of working with copper began the year 1996 when I was intrigued by the unique ancient technique of etching on the palm leaf manuscripts in Orissa. My works, though in a more challenging medium, are a tribute to the creative endeavors of the artists of Orissa.

As a Copper Artist, my original copper creations can be found in home & garden shows, events, private residences, and business premises.

I undertake commissioned copper art projects too.

Other works in the continuing series ‘CONTEMPLATIONS IN COPPER – KRISHNA! The Idol and the Ideal for our times’

- Usabhilasa – recreations from the Pothi by Upendra Bhanja (17th cent. manuscript of Orissa)

- Geet Govinda of Jaidev – recreations from the Pothi chitras at the Orissa State Museum

- Krisna Lila – recreations from Kalapustaka (ancient manuscript from Nepal)

Artist’s Statement

Beauty is in all things. The more surprising the source, the more real the beauty! In my works I look at the relationships between a picture of an emotion, a text of the emotion, and the emotion itself. How do we acquire language? What is the relationship between visual perception and thought and language-based perception and thought?

I would like to provoke; to provoke dialogue, to provoke emotion in those who view my work. A dialogue, an emotion that would connect the viewer and the author of the Scripture - the creator of a text written hundreds of years ago; an ancient but a living text!