Radha and Krishna Under 'Kadamba'

The sky radiated with full moon. Yamuna cradled upon her bosom multiple stars and her banks lit in moon-light looked like heaps of silver-dust stretching from horizon to horizon. Every thing assumed a celestial glow and a look of unearthliness. And, to this divine magic Krishna added what had been so far missing. He played upon his flute and the magic was absolute. They all, women, cows, peacocks and of course Radha, heard that divine music reaching to them from the banks of Yamuna and they all felt the sky had melted into a transparent milky fluid and moon and stars floated over it like silvery bubbles and that they were melting within. The music dragged them. They wanted to go but the jealous male inflating with ego obstructed them. Radha, the devoted heart and sensitive to emotions, did not hear them nor heard them cows and peacocks and they reached there. Trees did not obey the dictates of season. They gave forth beyond seasonal schedule multiple fruits and bowed to him in love and devotion.

The Shrimad Bhagvata depicts numerous occasions of the divine cosmic experience which not only the residents of Vraja but also the cows, birds, plants, trees and the entire nature underwent when Krishna produced from his flute his divine music. In Krishna's votive iconography artists have crystallized this experience through various visual representations. This magnificent statue represents the most popular form of such kind of visualisation. Under a Kadamba, the tree yet in existence and largely associated with Krishna's legend, stands Krishna playing on his flute and there assemble around him cows, birds and Gopis symbolised here by a cow, two pairs of peacocks and Radha. The Kadamba is depicted as laden with fruits and bent over him. Its each leaf has reflection of his divine glow. Radha in Indian tradition stands for fertility, prosperity and absolute womanhood. She has been hence often conceived with a pot or couple of pots, which symbolise in Indian thought ocean, sky and earth and thereby all that relates to fertility, prosperity and womanhood, the most representative form of endurance, compassion, love and devotion.

The statue cast in fine brass is a magnificent work of art. Each detail has been carved with fine strokes, though the technique used is the same old lost wax process. Both figures have fine features, a highly proportionate anatomy and elaborate details. Each fold of their garments and each projection and form of ornaments and all linear details have been effectively created. Emotionality is seen enlivening the entirety and the love is its sole spirit represented here by the loving peacock couple perching upon the tree-top, the male affectionately caressing the female upon her neck.

This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of ancient Indian literature. Dr Daljeet is the chief curator of the Visual Arts Gallery at the National Museum of India, New Delhi. They have both collaborated on numerous books on Indian art and culture.

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Of Related Interest:

Article: Krishna the Divine Lover

Silk Painting: Love Games of Radha and Krishna

Sterling Silver Jewelry: Krishna Playing the Flute Standing Against OM

Sculpture: Krishna the Sensuous Musician