Krishna Playing with the Gopis in the Yamuna

c. 1770

Northern India, Pahari kingdoms

Medium

Measurements

Page: 24.8 x 17.8 cm (9 3/4 x 7 in.); Image: 23.5 x 16.6 cm (9 1/4 x 6 9/16 in.)

Credit Line

Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2018.118

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

Krishna playfully splashes one of the women who turns her face away.

Description

After Krishna raised Mount Govardhan, he began to play erotically with the girls of his village. Under a scorching sun, Krishna and three milkmaids enjoy the cooling waters of the Yamuna River. The women neatly stack their clothes on a nearby tree, and Krishna’s crown and scarf rest by the bank. Krishna playfully splashes one of the women, and she turns her face away. This scene evokes the joy of spending life in intimacy with the god Krishna.