NOTES

[121]

Plates13-15.

[122]

Plate18.

[123]

The Art of India and Pakistan, Plate 79

[124]

W.G. Archer, 'Maithil Painting,'Marg, Vol. III, No. 2.

[125]

W.G. Archer,Bazaar Paintings of Calcutta(London, 1953), Plates 8, 9, 14, 19, 30, 31 and 41.

[126]

Ajit Mookerjee,Art of India, (Calcutta, 1952) Fig. 94.

[127]

B. Dey and J. Irwin, 'Jamini Roy,'Journal of the Indian Society of Oriental Art(1944), Vol. XII, Plate 6.

[128]

For reproductions of Keyt's work, see Martin Russell,George Keyt(Bombay, 1950), Plates 1-101.

Note 1

, p.

For a further discussion of these two main kinds of Indian expression, see myIndian Painting(Iris, Batsford, London, 1956).

Note 2

, p.

In Indian painting, Krishna is normally blue or mauve in colour, though cases occur in which he is black, green or dark brown. Black would seem to follow from Krishna's name—the word 'Krishna' meaning 'black'—and may have been applied either because he sprang from a black hair of Vishnu or because he was born at midnight, 'black as a thundercloud.' It has been suggested that his dark complexion proves a Dravidian or even an aboriginal origin since both the Dravidian races and the aboriginal tribes are dark brown in colour in contrast to the paler Aryans. None of the texts, however, appears to corroborate this theory. So far as 'blue' and 'mauve' are concerned, 'blue' is the colour of Vishnu and characterizes most of his incarnations. As the colour of the sky, it is appropriate to a deity who was originally associated with the sun—the sun with its life-giving rays according well with Vishnu's role as loving protector. 'Blue' is also supposed to be the colour of the ocean on which Vishnu is said to recline at the commencement of each age. In view of the variations in colour in the pictures, it is perhaps significant that 'blue,' 'mauve' and 'green' are commonly regarded in village India as variants of 'black'—many Indians making no distinction between them. In Indian painting, the fact that Krishna is blue makes it easy to identify him, his only serious rival being another and earlier incarnation of Vishnu, the princely Rama. The latter can usually be distinguished from Krishna by the fact that he carries a bow (never a cowherd's stick) and is often accompanied by Hanuman, the monkey leader.

Note 3

, p.

For a comparison of Ghora Angirasa's teaching in theChandogya Upanishadwith Krishna's precepts in theGita, see Mazumdar,The Age of Imperial Unity(432-4) and Basham,The Wonder that was India(242-7, 304-5)

Note 4

, p.

Although the actual date of theMahabharatawar has been variously assessed—'between 1400 and 1000 B.C.' (M.A. Mehendale inThe Age of Imperial Unity, 251) 'the beginning of the ninth century B.C. (Basham, op. cit., 39)—the epic itself is generally recognized as being a product of many centuries of compilation. The portions relating to Krishna the hero may well date from the third century B.C. TheGita, on the other hand, was possibly composed in the second century B.C. 'but assumedthe form in which it appears in theMahabharatatoday in the early centuries A.D.' (Mehendale, op. cit., 249).

Note 5

, p.

The implication is that the Pandavas have not been granted ultimate salvation i.e. final release from living but have reached the important transitional level of 'the heaven of the doers of good deeds.' They have also been granted the limited status of petty gods.

Note 6

, p.

Harivansa, 'the Genealogy of Krishna' but more literally, 'the Genealogy of Hari,' a synonym for Vishnu. For the sake of clearness and to avoid burdening the text with too much periphrasis, I have throughout referred to Krishna as such. In the texts themselves, however, he is constantly invoked under other names—Hari (or Vishnu), Govinda (the cowherd), Keshava (the hairy or radiant one), Janarddana (the most worshipful), Damodara ('bound with a rope,' referring to the incident (p.32) when having been tied by Yasoda to a mortar, Krishna uproots the two trees), Murari ('foe of Mura, the arch demon' p.58) or in phrases such as 'queller of Kaliya the snake,' 'destroyer of Kesi, the demon horse,' 'slayer of Madhu—the demon who sprang from the ear of Vishnu and was killed by him.' A similar use of periphrasis occurs in Anglo-Saxon kennings ('world-candle' for sun, 'battle-adders' for arrows). In the same way, Abul Fazl's chronicle, theAkbarnama, never names the emperor Akbar but refers to him in terms such as 'His Majesty,' 'the holy soul,' 'lord of the age,' 'fountain of generosity,' 'the sacred heart,' 'the world-adorning mind,' 'the decorated mansion of sports.'

Note 7

, p.

In Chapters3and4I have, in the main, strictly followed theBhagavata Purana,incorporating, however, a few important details and passages either not given in this text but included in theVishnu Puranaor if given, not so vividly expressed. The details and passages in question are page27concerning the white and black hairs of Vishnu, page34—the lyrical description of Krishna's life in the forest, page46—Akrura's meditation as he goes to visit Krishna, page68—the drunken brawl and page69the deaths of Balarama and Krishna. All extracts are from H.H. Wilson,The Vishnu Purana(pages 498, 511, 541-2, 609-612).

Note 8

, p.

The resemblance between Kansa's order to kill all male infants and Herod's slaughter of the innocents has often been remarked.

Note 9

, p.

Krishna's constant alterations of role, appearing sometimes as God but more often as boy or man, have been commented on by Isherwood and Prabhavananda in connection with Arjuna's dilemma in theMahabharata. 'Krishna is the divine incarnation of Vishnu, Arjuna's chosen deity. Arjuna knows this—yet, by a merciful ignorance, he sometimes forgets. Indeed, it is Krishna who makes him forget, since no ordinary man could bear the strain of constant companionship with God. Afterthe vision of Krishna's divine aspect, Arjuna is appalled by the realization that he has been treating the Lord of the universe as 'friend and fellow-mortal.' He humbly begs Krishna's pardon, but his awe soon leaves him. Again, he has forgotten. We may infer the same relationship between Jesus and his disciples after the vision of the transfiguration.'(The Song of God, Bhagavad-Gita,29-30).

Note 10

, p.

Although part of the supreme Trinity, Brahma was often treated in literature as an ordinary god who ambled gently about the world, was often rather absent-minded, sometimes behaved as if he were a priest, and was prone, as on the present occasion, to act a trifle misguidedly.

Note 12

, p.

The scene is illustrated in two Kangra and Guler paintings (Archer,Indian Painting in the Punjab Hills, Figs. 10 and 23).

Note 12

, p.

Pragjyotisha—a city situated in the east, in Kamarupa on the borders of Assam. According to theVishnu Purana(Wilson, 582), its environs were defended by 'nooses, constructed by the demon Mura (Naraka's ally), the edges of which were as sharp as razors.' Mura had seven thousand sons (not seven, as stated in theBhagavata). All, however, were 'burnt like moths with the flame of the edge of Krishna's discus.'

Note 13

, p.

Basham (op. cit., 305) points out that elements in the Krishna story such as the destruction of the Yadavas and the death of the god are 'quite un-Indian in their tragic character. The themes of the drunken brawl leading to a general slaughter, of the hero slain by an arrow piercing his one vulnerable spot, and of the great city engulfed by the sea, are well-known in European epic literature, but do not occur elsewhere in that of India and are not hinted at in the Vedas. The concept of the dying god, so widespread in the ancient Near East, is found nowhere else in Indian mythology.'

It is unfortunate that Krishna's reasons for destroying the Yadava race are nowhere made very clear. The affront to the Brahmans is the immediate occasion for the slaughter but hardly its actual cause; and, if it is argued that the Yadavas must first be destroyed in order to render Krishna's withdrawal from the world complete, we must then assume that the Yadavas are in some mysterious way essential parts of Krishna himself. Such a status, however, does not seem to be claimed for them and none of the texts suggest that this is so. The slaughter, therefore, remains an enigma.

Note 14

, p.

Wilson (op. cit., 608) summarizing the portents listed in theMahabharatabut not included in theVishnuorBhagavata Puranas.

Note 15

, p.

From theBrihadaranyaka, quoted A. Danielou, 'An Approach to Hindu Erotic Sculpture,'Marg, Vol. II, No. i, 88. For a Western expression ofthis point of view, compare Eric Gill, 'Art and Love,'Rupam(Calcutta, 1925), No. 21, 5.

'If the trees and rocks, the thunder and the sea, the frightful avidity of animal life and the loveliness of flowers are so many hints of the God who made them, how much more obviously are the things of humanity analogues of the things of God? And among all such things, the union of man and woman takes the highest place and is the most potent symbol. Therefore it is that outside the commercial civilizations of the western world, love and marriage take their place as types of divine union and everywhere love and marriage are the subject matter, the theme of religious writers, singers, painters and sculptors. It is true that love is the theme of western writers also but with them the idea of love is entirely free from divine signification. (As a corollary), the more the divine background disappears, the more the prudishness of the police becomes the standard of ethics and aesthetics alike. Under such an aegis the arts are necessarily degraded to the level of the merely sentimental or the merely sensual and while the sentimental is everywhere applauded, the sensual is a source of panic.'

Note 16

, p.

In later poetry as well as in popular worship, Radha's position is always that of an adored mistress—never that of a beloved wife. And it is outside or rather in the teeth of marriage that her romance with Krishna is prosecuted. Such a position clearly involved a sharp conflict with conventional morals and in the fourteenth century, an attempt was made, in theBrahma Vaivarta Purana, to re-write theBhagavata Purana, magnifying Radha as leader of the cow-girls, disguising or rather denying her adultery and finally presenting her as Krishna's eternal consort. For this purpose, three hypotheses were adopted. Radha was throughout assumed to be Krishna's spouse and it is only on account of a curse that she takes human form as a cowgirl and comes to live in Brindaban. Radha herself does not marry Ayana the cowherd—his wedding being only with her shadow. Thirdly, Krishna comes to Brindaban and goes through a secret marriage with her. Their love-making is, therefore, no longer adulterous but strictly conjugal. It is not perhaps surprising that theBrahma Vaivarta Puranafailed to capture the Indian imagination and indeed is nowadays hardly ever heard of. It is of interest mainly on account of the prolific information given about Radha, the fact that it sets her firmly in the centre, dethroning the hapless Rukmini, and its baroque descriptions of sexual union.

Note 17

, p.

During the eleventh and twelfth centuries, a parallel situation seems to have arisen in feudal France and Germany where local love-poetry also treated adultery as asine qua nonof romance.

'Two things prevented the men of that age from connecting their ideal of romantic and passionate love with marriage. The first is, of course, the actual practice of feudal society. Marriages had nothing to do withlove and no 'nonsense' about marriage was tolerated. All marriages were matches of interest and, worse still, of an interest that was continually changing. When the alliance which had answered would answer no longer, the husband's object was to get rid of the lady as quickly as possible. Marriages were frequently dissolved. The same woman who was the lady and 'the dearest dread' of her vassals was often little better than a piece of property to her husband. He was master in his own house. So far from being a natural channel for the new kind of love, marriage was rather the drab background against which that love stood out in all the contrast of its new tenderness and delicacy. The situation is indeed a very simple one, and not peculiar to the Middle Ages. Any idealization of sexual love, in a society where marriage is purely utilitarian, must begin by being an idealization of adultery.' (C.S. Lewis,The Allegory of Love(London, 1936), 13.)

Note 18

, p.

Much of theGita Govinda'spower arises from the endowment of Nature with romantic ardour, the forest itself being presented as a highly sensitive and symbolic setting for the behaviour of lovers. The following passage fromTess of the D' Urbervillesis perhaps the nearest approach in English to this kind of treatment.

'Amid the oozing fatness and warm ferments of the Var Vale, at a season when the rush of juices could almost be heard below the hiss of fertilization, it was impossible that the most fanciful love should not grow passionate. The ready bosoms existing there were impregnated by their surroundings. July passed over their heads and the weather which came in its wake seemed an effort on the part of Nature to match the state of hearts at Talbothays Dairy. The air of the place, so fresh in the spring and early summer, was stagnant and enervating now. Its heavy scents weighed upon them, and at mid-day the landscape seemed lying in a swoon. Ethiopic scorchings browned the upper slopes of the pastures, but there was still bright herbage here where the water courses purled. And as Clare was oppressed by the outward heats, so was he burdened inwardly by waxing fervour of passion for the soft and silent Tess.'

Note 19

, p.

TheGita Govindawas one of the first Sanskrit poems to be rendered into English—Sir William Jones publishing a mellifluous version inAsiatick Researchesin 1792. Later in the nineteenth century it was translated into Victorian verse by Sir Edwin Arnold. The present translation from which all the extracts are taken is by George Keyt, the foremost modern artist of Ceylon. It is greatly to be hoped that the entire translation, hitherto available only in an Indian edition, will one day be published in England.

Note 20

, p.

Poems1and2are based on versions by O.C. Gangoly (Masterpieces of Rajput Painting, 29, 58); poems3-11are from new translations by Deben Bhattacharya.

Note 21

, p.

For the originals of certain poems in theRasika Priyaand their literal translation, see Coomaraswamy, 'The Eight Nayikas.'

Note 22

, p.

104

The first scholar to draw attention to this fact, i.e. that the subjects are not Radha and Krishna but palace ladies impersonating them, is Dr. Joan van Lohuizen de Leeuw, whose paper on this and kindred problems is under preparation.

Note 23

, p.

105

For a detailed discussion of Bhanu Datta'sRasamanjariand of similar treatises by other Sanskrit authors, see V. Raghavan,Srngaramanjari of Saint Akbar Shah(Hyderabad, 1951).

AGRAWALA, V.S.: 'The Romance of Himachal Paintings,'Roopa-LekhaXX, 2, (1948-9), 87-93.

ARCHER, W.G.:Indian Painting in the Punjab Hills(London, 1952).Kangra Painting(London, 1952).Garhwal Painting(London, 1954).Indian Painting(London, 1956).

BASHAM, A.L.:The Wonder that was India(London, 1954).

BURNOUF, E. (trans.):Le Bhagavata Purana(Paris, 1840-98).

COOMARASWAMY, A.C.: 'The Eight Nayikas,'Journal of Indian Art and Industry, XVI (New Series), No. 128 (1914), 99-116.Rajput Painting(Oxford, 1916).Catalogue of the Indian Collections in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: Part V, Rajput Painting; Part VI, Mughal Painting(Cambridge, Mass. 1926, 1930). (trans.)The Taking of Toll(London, 1915).

GANGOLY, O.C.:Masterpieces of Rajput Painting(Calcutta, 1926).Ragas and Raginis(Calcutta, 1934).

GRAY, B.:Rajput Painting(London, 1948). 'Painting,'The Art of India and Pakistan, ed. L. Ashton (London, 1950).

GRIERSON, G.A.:The Modern Vernacular Literature of Hindustan(Calcutta, 1889).

HENDLEY, T.H.:Memorials of the Jeypore Exhibition. IV, the Razm Namah(London, 1883).

HOLLINGS, W. (trans.):The Prem Sagar(Lucknow, 1880).

ISHERWOOD, C. and PRABHAVANANDA, S.(trans.):The Song of God, Bhagavad-Gita(London, 1947).

JONES, W. (trans.): 'Gitagovinda or Songs of Jayadeva,'Asiatick Researches(Calcutta, 1792).

KEYT, G. (trans.):Sri Jayadeva's Gita Govinda(Bombay, 1947).

MATHERS, E. POWYS (trans.):Eastern Love(London, 1927-30). (trans.)Love Songs of Asia(London, 1944).

MAZUMDAR, R.C. (ed.):The History and Culture of the Indian People, I, The Vedic Age(London, 1951); II,The Age of Imperial Unity(Bombay, 1951).

MEHTA, N.C.:Studies in Indian Painting(Bombay, 1926).Gujarati Painting in the Fifteenth Century(London, 1931).

RANDHAWA, M.S.:Kangra Valley Painting(New Delhi, 1954).The Krishna Legend in Pahari Painting(New Delhi, 1956).

ROY, P.C. (trans.):The Mahabharata(Calcutta, 1883).

SEN, D.C.:History of Bengali Language and Literature(Calcutta, 1911).

SEN, R.N. (trans.):The Brahma Vaivarta Purana(Allahabad, 1920).

STCHOUKINE, I.:La Peinture Indienne(Paris, 1929).

WINTERNITZ, M.:A History of Indian Literature(Calcutta, I, 1927; II, 1933).

WILSON, H.H. (trans.):The Vishnu Purana(London, 1840).

Abul Fazl,

116

, pl.

(comment)

Aditi, mother of the gods,

Age of Imperial Unity, The

115

121

Agni, god of fire,

Agrawala, V.S.,

121

Ahmadnagar, Deccan,

Ajmer, Rajasthan,

103

Akbar, Mughal Emperor,

116

, pl.

(comment)

Akbarnama

116

Akrura, chief of the Yadavas,

116

Allegory of Love, The

119

Altdorfer,

Amaru, Sanskrit poet,

Aniruddha, son of Pradyumna and grandson of Krishna,

Archer, Mildred,

Archer, W.G.,

101

105

107

112

115

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