Artwork Page for Krishna Steals the Clothes of the Milkmaids and Expounds on the Virtue of Trees, from a Braj Bhagavata Purana

Details / Information for Krishna Steals the Clothes of the Milkmaids and Expounds on the Virtue of Trees, from a Braj Bhagavata Purana

Krishna Steals the Clothes of the Milkmaids and Expounds on the Virtue of Trees, from a Braj Bhagavata Purana

c. 1650

Central India, Madhya Pradesh, Malwa

Medium
Gum tempera on paper
Measurements
Overall: 21 x 33.5 cm (8 1/4 x 13 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Robert S. Walzer 1986.175
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Description

When the milkmaids went to the Yamuna River to bathe, Krishna stealthily took their clothes and hid them in the treetops. Here, the blue-skinned Krishna sits in a tree playing his flute, waiting for the women to come to him. True devotees must shed all worldly inhibitions and approach their god with nothing to hide.

The narrow register above shows Krishna expounding on the virtue of trees to the other cowherds. The illustration closely follows the extensive text, written on the back in the vernacular language of Braj, even down to the detail of how they drank the sweet water of the Yamuna River.
A horizontally oriented gum tempera painting is divided into registers. On our right, Krishna, a god with blue skin, sits in a leafy tree over wavy dark blue water, playing a flute. Six women with light skin tones are submerged in the water below. Stolen garments hang from trees. Above, Krishna and other figures sit beneath trees near cows. On our left, stacked balconies contain two women and three men above four walking cows.

Krishna Steals the Clothes of the Milkmaids and Expounds on the Virtue of Trees, from a Braj Bhagavata Purana

c. 1650

Central India, Madhya Pradesh, Malwa

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