Kangra Painting of the Gita Govinda series
Early 18th century.
Radha continues to be angry with Krishna. She refuses to meet him. Krishna pines for her. Lonely he sits on a knoll; he covers his ear as the buzzing of the bees ( on the upper left corner, near the crescent moon) reminds him of the noise Radha's anklet used to make. He burns in the soft rays of the cresent moon. Even the river shore is jagged, like the teeth of a saw. The landscape is lifeless. No flowers bloom, no bird sings. This is pathos at its best.
Indian artists symbolically use the landscape in order to reflect the psychology of the characters. If there is love, a flowery landscape is painted; if separation, a desolate one is depicted; if there is passion, then even the grass turns red. Here since the artist is portraying the pangs of separation, the willow tree is without flowers; the landscape is as barren as the life of a jilted lover.
It is not only the soul which always yearns for God, but the God also waits for the soul. In the absence of the soul, God too is miserable. Krishna, too, sits forlorn.
Indian artists symbolically use the landscape in order to reflect the psychology of the characters. If there is love, a flowery landscape is painted; if separation, a desolate one is depicted; if there is passion, then even the grass turns red. Here since the artist is portraying the pangs of separation, the willow tree is without flowers; the landscape is as barren as the life of a jilted lover.
It is not only the soul which always yearns for God, but the God also waits for the soul. In the absence of the soul, God too is miserable. Krishna, too, sits forlorn.
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