Jaur Gita Govinda #3

BY: SUN STAFF

Nov 13, USA (SUN) — This month-long series explores text and manuscript illustrations from Gita-Govinda

Text Folios No. 3 and 4

Bhavas 6 and 7

These bhavas are a further description of Krsna with the Gopis in Spring time. His saffron orange garments and his ear ornaments, his face and teeth are all vividly described. His face is red with colour, his hair flutters like a Naga. The Gopis sing and dance around him, others come close and whisper, yet others hold him, some embrace him and others wait eagerly for the music of his flute. He responds warmly, teases some and draws others close. These sections are a fairly faithful rendering of the verses of Sarga I, prabandha 4 beginning .

Text Folio No. 5

Bhavas 8 and 9

These bhavas continue the description of the dance with the Gopis and speak of Radha's watching the dance and her feeling of dejection. The Rasa of Vrindavana, much in the style of the Srimad Bhagavatam, is described here, although it is also obvious that these portions rest heavily on Jayadeva's verses of the first Sarga, prabandha 3 and prabandha 4.

Click for larger image

Illustration Folio 5

The area of the painting is divided into two sections. In one, Radha is seen sitting solitary and dejected. In the text, she complains to a sakhi about Krsna's wanton ways, but in the illustration, we see her speaking instead to a parrot. Both the foreground and background of this panel break the harmony, with many dots, stripes and shaded lines rather than a single color. Even Radha's tilak and earrings are dots.

In the second section Krsna sits alone, accompanied by a parrot on one side and a peacock on the other. The vertical lines and stylized trees differentiate one scene from the other. Both Krsna and Radha's sitting postures in this folio suggest an evocative state of separation.

The mauve background of the first panel is continued in the second. The peacock is made distinct on a yellow panel that matches Krsna's yellow dhoti. Above the peacock is a dark space indicating the stormy skies.

This folio is in deep contrast to the two preceding it. The separation of the two is beautifully captured. While the red of the foreground provides continuity between the two sections, the ochre background of the section with the peacock and the light blue of Radha's section are in deep contrast. The appearance of the parrot in both sections provides continuity in the folio.

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