SAKHI DESCRIBES THE FEARS OF RADHA
Description
Folio from an illustrated manuscript of Gita Govinda
Gita Govinda was composed by Jayadeva, a celebrated poet from the 12th Century CE. He was the court poet of King Lakshmanasena of Bengal. Gita Govinda narrates various moods of the divine lovers Radha and Krishna. This folio illustrates the second verse of the eighth song from chapter four. On the left, we see a Sakhi (companion) of Radha talking to Krishna. She is describing to him the fearful state of Radha in love. In the centre, we see Kama, the God of Love - ready to shoot at Radha with the arrow of love. Radha trying to save herself from the arrows of Kama seeks protection in the arms of Krishna. The human figures are set against a flat red background. The dark blue horizon is separated with white wavy lines from the light blue sky. This is a feature typical of this set of miniature paintings.
The inscription on top of the painting starts with the second verse of the sarga , whereas the illustration depicts the rhyme repeated in all the following verses of this poem,
“Lying dejected by your desertion,
fearing Love’s arrows, she clings to you in fantasy, Oh Madhava!”
Collection
Indian Miniature Paintings
Object Type
Miniature Painting
Material
--
Schools/Culture/Period
Sultanate Period
Technique
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Date
1525 - 1575
Location
Probably Delhi-Jaunpur belt
Dimension
Folio: 20.5 x 16 cms Painting: 17.8 x 11.5 cms