- Title
- Balarama Kills Dhenukasura, Folio from a Harivamsha (Lineage of Hari [Vishnu])
- Date Made
- circa 1585 (border: circa 1700)
- Medium
- Opaque watercolor, gold, and ink on paper
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 16 1/8 x 11 3/4 in. (41.0 x 29.85 cm); Image: 11 3/4 x 7 in. (29.85 x 17.78 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.78.9.10
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
The Harivamsha (Lineage of Hari [Vishnu]) is an appendix to the great Indian Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata ([War of the] Great Bharatas), which is traditionally believed to have been composed by the revered sage Vyasa by the 1st century CE. It was translated into Persian for the Mughal Emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605) by Mullah (or Mawlana) Sheri, who was killed in Kashmir in February 1586. This folio, M.83.1.7, and M.83.105.4 are from a widely dispersed Harivamsha manuscript that was a second copy of Akbar’s original volume. The folios were remounted into later borders in circa 1700. Verses from the text are on the obverse.
This folio is attributed to Basawan (active circa 1565-1598), who was one of the foremost painters in Akbar’s atelier (see also M.79.9.12). It illustrates the destruction of the ass-demon Dhenukasura recounted in Chapter 69 of the text. According to the tale, Krishna, his brother Balarama, and their cowherd companions (gopas) had visited a palmyra palm forest on the banks of the Yamuna River. Unaware that the forest was ruled by the ass-demon Dhenuka and his equine cohorts, Balarama shook the trees to make their fragrant fruits fall to the ground. This greatly upset Denuka, who attacked Balarama and kicked him with his hind legs. Balarama grabbed the demon him by his legs and hurled him against a tree to kill him. Here, the white-skinned Balarama has grasped Denuka’s legs, while the blue-skinned Krishna and the agitated gopas herald the tumultuous encounter.
- Selected Bibliography
- Pal, Pratapaditya. Indian Painting, vol.1. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1993.
- Heeramaneck, Alice N. Masterpieces of Indian Painting : From the Former Collections of Nasli M. Heeramaneck. New York: A.N. Heeramaneck, 1984.
- Pal, Pratapaditya, ed. Aspects of Indian Art: Papers Presented in a Symposium at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Leiden, The Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1972.
- Pal, Pratapaditya. Indian Paintings in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. New Delhi: Lalit Kala Akademi, 1982.
- Rosenfield, John. The Arts of India and Nepal: The Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1966.
- Pal, Pratapaditya. The Classical Tradition in Rajput Painting. New York: The Gallery Association of New York State, 1978.
