Krishna's idyllic childhood was spent with other cowherd boys (gopas) and girls (gopis) playing in the dusty earth, bathing in the River Jumna, and tending the cows in the luxuriant forest. The "butter thief" matured into a young man who came to be known instead as the "thief of hearts." Young gopis felt their youthful crushes on Krishna ripen into passionate, inconsolable desire.

The young playmates mature, and their encounters take on new dimensions. Note these lines of verse written by the 17th century Hindi poet of love, Mati Rama, from his Satasai (Seven Centuries of Verse). They are the words of a young woman, spoken as a garlanded Krishna emerges into view from a thicket:

   Today for the first time seeing became worthwhile.

Krishna's flute, called Murali, is an extension of his beauty and grace. It is "the All-Pervading Net" that draws all who hear it to him. A Bengali poem speaks of the helplessness of a gopi in its spell:

	How can I describe his relentless flute,
	Which pulls virtuous women from their homes
	And drags them by their hair to Krishna
	As thirst and hunger pull the doe to the snare?
	Chaste ladies forget their lords,
	Wise men forget their wisdom,
	And clinging vines shake loose from their trees,
	Hearing that music.
	Then how shall a simple dairymaid withstand its call?

In Praise of Krishna: Songs from the Bengali, 1967, p. 28

The texts also describe the utter abandon that comes over even the most loyal and dutiful wife, daughter, maiden, or woman when a note of Murali is heard. They leave cows half-milked, food on the stove, one ear-ring dangling, one eye unpainted, and in their hurry to find Krishna, girdles slip from their hips and their hair falls loose.

This affront to moral and social law is not the wantonness of loose women, but souls responding to the higher call of the divine given voice in Krishna's flute. And in his joyous presence, the rustic maidens sing and dance with heavenly grace.

Paintings in this gallery from the Museum's collection are organized into three groups that relate stories of Krishna as a lover and as a hero. Click on the following links to learn more.

• Stealing Hearts
• Lover and Beloved
• Hero and God

Literature and Painting

For more information on our South Asian Collection, please visit our online catalogue.

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