- Title
- Indra Paying Homage to Krishna, Folio from a Bhagavata Purana (Ancient Stories of the Lord)
- Date Made
- circa 1680-1690
- Medium
- Opaque watercolor on paper
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 9 x 14 in. (22.86 x 35.56 cm); Image: 8 1/8 x 13 1/2 in. (20.64 x 34.29 cm)
- Accession Number
- AC1995.220.3
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
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. To fulfill his role as the guardian of the world and savior of humanity, Vishnu appears as a succession of heroic animals and semi-mortal saviors, called avatars, through which he intervenes in times of crisis or unrighteousness.
The inscription on the reverse from a Braj summary of the Bhagavata Purana identifies the scenes. Krishna had saved the residents of Gokula from the storm-god Indra’s wrath and his torrential rainfall by raising Mount Govardhana on his little finger to act as an umbrella. Indra was ashamed of offending Krishna and prostrated himself in front of Krishna to seek forgiveness. He also performed a bathing ceremony with milk from Surabhi (or Kamadhenu), the divine mother of all cows (Bhagavata Purana 10:27). Here, in continuous narration the thousand-eyed Indra reproaches Krishna, genuflects before him, and worships him with Surabhi. Celestials in flying chariots rejoice in the heavens and dancers celebrate the auspicious event. In the lower right corner is Indra’s elephant, Airavata.
See its series mate AC1995.220.2. Additional folios from this dispersed series are in the Brooklyn Museum (84.206.1) and Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond (86.169).
