indian art - miniatures - archecticture - vedic philosophy
 
 
   

 
Classical - Mewari - Gita-Govinda - Series One
 
Plate 12 - "Ganayati... dosa hein dura tapaj hain."  

 

Next Picture

After the benedictory stanza of each prabandha Jayadeva prepares his readers for what is to follow in the next prabandha. So far Radha has been describing Krsna in dance with the others. Only once she remembers Him with her alone. In this verse she cries out in despair. She knows Him and all his traits of character, but she keeps denying His fault of stealing away from her to indulge in His desire for other women. She refuses to admit her rage, feeling strangely elated. What should she do? How can she bring Krsna back? What shall she do? This is her cry.
 
The painting evokes this last feeling of despair "What shall I do?" seems to sing out of the painting. In another area, Krsna stands with other gopis. He embraces one and four others watch in adoration. Kama, the god of love, appears in the trees as in many other paintings. The Jamuna flows in a narrow horizontal panel.
 
Although the range of emotions, which swell up in Radha could not be pictorially expressed, the artist communicates the mood through the gesture of Radha, the garland wasted, and the distribution of the figures of Krsna and the gopis.