As they sit, she leans against him, and they flower.
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Krishna: Lover and Hero
Stealing Hearts

The sound of Krishna's flute is the metaphor for his irresistible call to the soul for union with the divine.

Krishna Playing his Flute and Dancing on his Lotus, with Four Gopis
Krishna Playing his Flute and Dancing on his Lotus, with Four Gopis, 1450-1475
Balagopalastuti, Gujarat
Opaque watercolor on paper
Edwin Binney 3rd Collection, 1990:195
Here Krishna is shown dancing and playing his flute, flanked on each side by two gopis. The gopis are enchanted in his presence; they have their arms around one another, and one joins him in a spontaneous dance, flinging her arm to the sky.

The landscape of Vrindavana where Krishna and the gopis live in the bliss and beauty of love-play is a cowherd settlement that is transformed by poets and painters into an earthly garden of delights.

I have been enchanted by the flora of Vrindavana, the strangely beautiful, varied trees and fruit and flower-bearing creepers; by the calls and songs of beautiful peacocks, cuckoos, parrots, and other birds, their songs maddened by bliss.... The leaves are like emeralds in Vrindavana, the flowers are like diamonds, the sprouts and fruit are like rubies, while the trees in Vrindavana stand picturesquely with perpetually honey-shedding flowers, and the flowers are covered with large black bees that look like shining blue gems.

Prabhodhananda Sarasvati, Vrindavana-mahimamrita

Continue the story of Krishna: Stealing Hearts

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