indian art - miniatures - archecticture - vedic philosophy
 
 
   

 
Classical - Mewari - Gita-Govinda - Series Two
 
Plate 22 - "Atrantare... Sri Bhagavana bolata hua."  

 

Next Picture

Between the ninth prabandha and the nineteenth much has happened. Radha waned and wilted, looked for him everywhere but did not find him. He came, but she did not relent and decried him with the words, yahi madhava yahi Kesava. 'He departed and she was full of remorse. The sakhi persuades him then persuades her, and finally by the beginning of the nineteenth prabandha of the tenth sarga, the reconciliation begins. The poet begins by the verse:
 
"As night came, he approached Radha
Her wounded dpride and anger softened,
Her face weakened sighing from endless sighing
At dusk, she stared in shame at her friend's face
The overjoyed Hari in voice choked with emotion spoke."


The artist composes his painting by faithfully adhering to the same principles of form and technique as his predecessor. There are two arched bowers, one empty with ornaments scattered, the other with an emaciated slim Radha anxiously staring into space. The platform of the first arched bower is in three sections of different geometrical shapes unlike any platform we had observed in the first paintings. The shape of the second platform is reminiscent of platforms of the first Set. A banana tree and two mango trees frame the second bower. Scattered flowers emerge from the arch of the empty bower. One moon expectantly rises in the background of the first bower. A second moon and stars appear in the background of Radha's bower. The long day, dusk, and night are suggested by the repetition of the two moons. The sakhi and Krsna stand outside the bower. Krsna's hands are extended in a gesture of approaching Radha. Floral decoration comprising bushes and shrubs fill the bank of the symmetrically arranged Jamuna. The artist grasps the central idea of the verse and recreates the situation competently. Radha is refined with an expressive sophistication.