The Bhagavata Purana (Ancient Stories of the Lord) is traditionally ascribed to the legendary poet-sage Vyasa in the 8th-10th century CE. It stresses the path of devotion (bhakti) to Krishna, the eighth incarnation of Vishnu, the Hindu God of Preservation.
One day the baby Krishna was sitting on the lap of his foster-mother Yashoda in their village of Gokula when suddenly he felt as heavy as the entire universe and Yashoda had to put him on the ground. Then, Trinavarta, a Tornado Demon sent by the evil King Kamsa of Mathura, swept the infant up into the sky in a whirlwind of dust. But because Krishna’s tremendous weight, the demon could go no further. Krishna then choked him, and they both fell back to earth. Trinavarta’s body shattered upon impact, but Krishna was unharmed (Bhagavata Purana 10:7:18-30). Here, Krishna is in the tornado while the distressed villagers watch. Trinavarta plummets to his death in the lower left corner.
This folio and its series mate M.71.1.47 are from a Bhagavata Purana of some 70 illustrations that was dispersed around 1950 by a Delhi art dealer, Tula Ram. Additional folios from this series are in the Brooklyn Museum (1999.136.2), Cleveland Museum of Art (1990.40), National Museum of Asian Art (S2018.1.56), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1976.17 and 1977.450.1), Philadelphia Museum of Art (1959-93-60 to 1959-93-67, 1994-148-469, and 1994-148-470), San Diego Museum of Art (1990.211), and Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond (68.8.73).
