वसुदॆव सुतं दॆवं कंस चाणूर मर्दनम् । दॆवकी परमानन्दं कृष्णं वन्दॆ जगद्गुरुम् ॥१॥ I offer my obeisance’s to Lord Kṛṣṇa, the beloved son of Vasudeva, who killed the great demons Kaṁsa and Cāṇūra, who is the source of great joy to Mother Devakī; and who is indeed a world teacher…

“There is a perfect balance between the divine and earthly dimension in Hemen Mazumdar’s works, which emerges from a very personal poetic vision that creates a new and singular aesthetic”. C. Corni This artwork by Hemen Mazumdar (1894–1948), titled Smriti (Secret Memory) was awarded the Gold Medal in 1921 by…

Balarāma is Kṛṣṇa’s elder brother and is himself a deity often associated with agricultural prosperity, responsible for the region’s fertility. Balarāma is affectionately referred to as Dauji, Daubaba, or Baladev. ‘Dau’ means elder brother in Brajabhāṣa, the local dialect of Hindi, and “ji” and “baba” are appended honorifics. Most images…

Kṛṣṇa’s Vastrāharaṇa Līla This manuscript of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa is admired for its sophistication, its animated narration, and above all, its sheer joie de vivre. This painting captures the essence of the text, which describes Krṣṇa’s vastrāharaṇa līla. Krṣṇa is seated in a tree, having stolen the robes of the women that had…

The whole world was, metaphorically, burnt by the intense tapas of Naranārāyaṇas (the sons of Dharma-deva, the son-in-law of Dakṣa). Indra was alarmed. Believing that their tapas was for the attainment of Indrahood and fearing his own displacement Indra went to Badarikāśrama mounted on Airāvata to break their tapas, and…

As the rath yātra comes to a close, a translation of a poem/bhajan by the 17th century Odiya bhakti poet Sālabega, dedicated to Śrī Jagannātha, the Lord of the Blue Hill. “O Dark Darling! You haven’t granted me a glimpse Of your pretty countenance! I have no reason now to continue my…

Excerpt from Songs of Three Great South Indian Saints by William J Jackson — “Lord Narasimha, you are cosmic existence the stars are your waistband sun and moon your eyes, sunrays your spears Vedas are your shaggy mane mountains your feet, earth your thighs time cycle your mouth, planets your teeth the whole sky is just your waist the seas are your nectary grace thunder’s your roar, Venkatadri your cave.”…

This painting from the Mandi school of art depicts an abhisārika nāyika or a forward woman1, who goes out to meet her lover, from an illustration of the Rasikapriya, a text by 16th century poet Keśavadāsa. In the dead of the dark night, she is walking through a forested landscape…

“Peacocks sing in the pure moonlight. Over and over the song echoes in Vṛndāvan; the mountain and all its caves respond — A symphony that brings great bliss; the last watch of the night remains. Nāgarīdās sees Shyāma and Shyāmā during their love-play in their unattainably high loft.” Pad-prasaṅg-mālā 63 …