f.18

An illustration of the seventh verse of the second song of the Sanskrit devotional poem Gita Govinda (‘Song of the Cowherd’) by Jayadeva.

वसन्तेवासन्तीकुसुमसुकुमारैरवयवै भ्रमन्तीम् कान्तारे बहुविहितकृष्णानुसरणाम् ॥
अमन्दम्कन्दर्पज्वरजनितचिन्ताकुलतयावलद्बाधाम् राधाम् सरसमिदमुचे सहचरी ॥७॥

'When spring came, tender-limbed Radha wandered like a flowering creeper in the forest wilderness, seeking Krishna in his many haunts.
The god of love increased her ordeal, tormenting her with fevered thoughts, and her friend sang to heighten the mood. 7'

After their first night together, Krishna abandoned Radha to play games with other women. Krishna is shown celebrating the spring festival of Holi, squirting coloured water at the gopis, while Radha longs for him in a distant forest grove. She leans on a tree trunk and grasps its leaves (known as a salabhanjika pose) while her sakhis (female friends) fan her, rub her feet and sing.

For further information on this series of paintings see RCIN 1005114.

Translation adapted from Barbara Stoller Miller, Jayadeva’s Gitagovinda (1978).