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 Lover and Beloved Krishna is beyond all rules and laws and evokes every shade of love from his worshippers. When he is a child, he is our mischievous child; as a boy, he is our dearest friend. As he matures, he becomes the lover who enflames us with jealousy or bliss. Pictures on the theme s of lover and beloved are favorites among court painters who have both religious texts and secular poetry to draw from. This section focuses on Krishna's passion for two particular women and theirs for him: Radha, a cowherdess married to another man, and Rukmini, a favorite among his eight queens and sixteen thousand wives. Krishna and Radha In the early literature dwelling on Krishna's love-play with the gopis, he is enamoured of all and partial to none. With the poet Jayadeva's Song of the Dark Lord (Gita Govinda) at the end of the 12th century, a new literature unfolds celebrating the trials and tribulations of love between Krishna and one particular woman, Radha. Radha is older than Krishna's other playmates, but she is one of them, and she is married. This fact alone spurs volumes of theosophical debate. How could he? How could she? According to the Gita Govinda, Radha is entrusted with the care of the younger man by his father on a stormy night and asked to bring Krishna through the forest to his village. On the way, the two are drawn to one another by emotions stronger than her vows, his age, their purpose. They experience the divine bliss of love that leaves them both smitten. This romance, like most mortal loves, does not take a smooth course, and its infinite byways have been an enduring pre-occupation in the Indus region of poets, musicians, dramatists, and painters all too familiar with love's highs and lows. Radha and Krishna become emblems of all lovers-the nayika (beautiful lady, heroine) and the nayaka (eminent one, hero) Krishna and Rukmini A beautiful daughter, Rukmini, was born to the powerful king Bhishmaka. Krishna knew her to be "intelligent with auspicious characteristics, nobility of heart, beauty, high character and other excellences," and he set his heart on marrying her. Four of her five brothers were in agreement, but the fifth, Rukmin, detested Krishna, and proposed instead a wealthy king as her husband. Rukmini was heartsick, and sent a letter with a trusted priest to Krishna to tell him of the situation. "Dear Lotus-eyed Lord, I have chosen you as my husband," she said. "Please take me as your wife." She told him the time and place the marriage was to be performed, and pleaded with him to come with warriors, defeat the assembled armies of her suitor, and take her as a spoil of war. Krishna made plans to attend the wedding and arrived on the eve of the wedding. Rukmini's father, Bishma, guessed Krishna's intent, and was happy. Rukmini's attendants were awed by Krishna's beauty and wished that he might become Rukmini's husband. Rukmini visits a temple as part of her pre-marital ritual, but she performs it trusting that Krishna will be there outside the temple to take her away. She intends to be "a bride who chooses her own husband," a svayamvara bride, rather than a bride whose husband is chosen for her. This "marriage-by-choice" was considered honorable and appropriate within the warrior caste. When the beautiful Rukmini, no older than sixteen, emerged from her pre-marital rites at the temple, she dazzled the surrounding crowds with her sublime smile and bashful glances. Her fiancé's soldiers were spellbound; they dropped their weapons and fell senseless to the ground. At that moment, she rushed toward Krishna's chariot and he swept her into it. He turned the chariot and fearlessly departed. It was an action "like a lion seizing its own share of prey from the midst of a pack of jackals." It did not take long for the assembled kings and the shocked fiancé to mount their horses and pursue the bold thief, but they were beaten back by Krishna's forces headed by his brother Balarama. They returned believing it was not the right moment for vengeance. Rukmini's brother Rukmin, however, was not to be deterred. His hatred for Krishna had led him to prevent his sister from marrying Krishna in the first place, and now he was outwitted. Rukmin armed himself for battle, mounted his chariot, and flew off after Krishna alone, swearing to kill the thief. He overtook Krishna, and showered him with arrows. But Krishna brought down Rukmin's horses and his charioteer. Then Rukmin jumped from his chariot and rushed toward Krishna "like a moth to flame." Krishna was about to kill Rukmin, when he observed Rukmini, fallen at his feet, begging him not to kill her brother. He granted his consort's wishes and spared Rukmin's life. 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. For more information on our South Asian Collection, please visit our online catalogue.
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