W. G. Archer - The Loves of Krishna in Indian Painting and Poetry

Note 1, p. 13.

For a further discussion of these two main kinds of Indian expression, see my Indian Painting (Iris, Batsford, London, 1956).

Note 2, p. 14.

In Indian painting, Krishna is normally blue or mauve in colour, though cases occur in which he is black, green or dark brown. Black would seem to follow from Krishnas namethe word Krishna meaning blackand may have been applied either because he sprang from a black hair of Vishnu or because he was born at midnight, black as a thundercloud. It has been suggested that his dark complexion proves a Dravidian or even an aboriginal origin since both the Dravidian races and the aboriginal tribes are dark brown in colour in contrast to the paler Aryans. None of the texts, however, appears to corroborate this theory. So far as blue and mauve are concerned, blue is the colour of Vishnu and characterizes most of his incarnations. As the colour of the sky, it is appropriate to a deity who was originally associated with the sunthe sun with its life-giving rays according well with Vishnus role as loving protector. Blue is also supposed to be the colour of the ocean on which Vishnu is said to recline at the commencement of each age. In view of the variations in colour in the pictures, it is perhaps significant that blue, mauve and green are commonly regarded in village India as variants of blackmany Indians making no distinction between them. In Indian painting, the fact that Krishna is blue makes it easy to identify him, his only serious rival being another and earlier incarnation of Vishnu, the princely Rama. The latter can usually be distinguished from Krishna by the fact that he carries a bow (never a cowherds stick) and is often accompanied by Hanuman, the monkey leader.

Note 3, p. 17.

For a comparison of Ghora Angirasas teaching in the Chandogya Upanishad with Krishnas precepts in the Gita, see Mazumdar, The Age of Imperial Unity (4324) and Basham, The Wonder that was India (2427, 3045).

Note 4, p. 17.

Although the actual date of the Mahabharata war has been variously assessedbetween 1400 and 1000 B.C. (M. A. Mehendale in The Age of Imperial Unity, 251) the beginning of the ninth century B.C. (Basham, op. cit., 39)the epic itself is generally recognized as being a product of many centuries of compilation. The portions relating to Krishna the hero may well date from the third century B.C. The Gita, on the other hand, was possibly composed in the second century B.C. but assumed the form in which it appears in the Mahabharata today in the early centuries A.D. (Mehendale, op. cit., 249).

Note 5, p. 24.

The implication is that the Pandavas have not been granted ultimate salvation i.e. final release from living but have reached the important transitional level of the heaven of the doers of good deeds. They have also been granted the limited status of petty gods.

Note 6, p. 25.

Harivansa, the Genealogy of Krishna but more literally, the Genealogy of Hari, a synonym for Vishnu. For the sake of clearness and to avoid burdening the text with too much periphrasis, I have throughout referred to Krishna as such. In the texts themselves, however, he is constantly invoked under other namesHari (or Vishnu), Govinda (the cowherd), Keshava (the hairy or radiant one), Janarddana (the most worshipful), Damodara (bound with a rope, referring to the incident (p. 32) when having been tied by Yasoda to a mortar, Krishna uproots the two trees), Murari (foe of Mura, the arch demon p. 58) or in phrases such as queller of Kaliya the snake, destroyer of Kesi, the demon horse, slayer of Madhuthe demon who sprang from the ear of Vishnu and was killed by him. A similar use of periphrasis occurs in Anglo-Saxon kennings (world-candle for sun, battle-adders for arrows). In the same way, Abul Fazls chronicle, the Akbarnama , never names the emperor Akbar but refers to him in terms such as His Majesty, the holy soul, lord of the age, fountain of generosity, the sacred heart, the world-adorning mind, the decorated mansion of sports.

Note 7, p. 26, 34, 46, 68, 69.

In Chapters 3 and 4 I have, in the main, strictly followed the Bhagavata Purana, incorporating, however, a few important details and passages either not given in this text but included in the Vishnu Purana or if given, not so vividly expressed. The details and passages in question are page 27 concerning the white and black hairs of Vishnu, page 34the lyrical description of Krishnas life in the forest, page 46Akruras meditation as he goes to visit Krishna, page 68the drunken brawl and page 69 the deaths of Balarama and Krishna. All extracts are from H. H. Wilson, The Vishnu Purana (pages 498, 511, 5412, 609612).