Krishna Vishvarupa

Object Details

• School/Tradition

  Bilaspur school

• Label

  The Bhagavad Gita (200 BCE-300 CE) is one of Hinduism's most sacred texts, and Krishna's manifestation as the cosmos is its profound core. The text presents a spectrum of doctrines and practices within a framework of personal devotion (bhakti) to Krishna. The eleventh chapter describes Krishna in his infinite cosmic form, vishvarupa, which encompasses all of time and "the whole world, moving and unmoving," filling "all the horizons," and "brushing the sky."

  An eighteenth-century artist from the kingdom of Bilaspur, in the Punjab Hills, sought to evoke the limitless and proliferating universe by extending Krishna's sixty multicolored heads and forty-four pinwheeling arms to the very borders of the painting. Within the golden dhoti that wraps around his waist, a miniaturized mountain landscape conveys--through the juxtaposition of scale--both Krishna's vastness and his supremacy over all other Hindu gods and sages. Four of Krishna's heads, shaded the same lavender-blue as his body, are vertically stacked at the center of his body, and his lowest mouth is "spiky with fangs." The heads probably relate to the god's successive manifestations before his devotee Arjuna, the warrior prince who appears at the painting's lower left, his hands raised in the gesture of worship. As the hair on Arjuna's arms bristles in terror, Krishna abandons his human form and becomes the cosmic creator, universal sovereign, and Kala, who is both time and death.

  In the Gita, Krishna's form, which embodies all of time and all phenomena, is overwhelming and terrifying. With its delicate line, luscious sherbet colors, and especially Krishna's gentle expressions as he meets the gaze of his devotees, the painting transcends literal illustration of the Gita's eleventh chapter to convey the broader context of bhakti devotion, in which Krishna's compassion is accessible to all.

• Provenance

  Prior to 1973

  Thomas A. Woods [1]

  1987

  Sale, London, Christie’s, Islamic, Indian, and South-East Asian Manuscripts, Miniatures and Works of Art, November 24, 1987, lot. 27: “Vishnu Visvarka”

  From 1987 to 2018

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim, Beverly Hills, California, purchased at auction, “Islamic, Indian, and South-East Asian Manuscripts, Miniatures and Works of Art,” Christie’s, London, November 24, 1987, lot. 27, “Vishnu Visvarka”

  From 2018

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, partial gift and purchase from Catherine Glynn Benkaim [4]

  [1] Thomas A. Woods is identified as the owner in Stuart C. Welch, A Flower from Every Meadow (New York: 1973), no. 42. It is probable that the painting was in Mr. Woods's collection in the United States in 1972, when planning for the 1973 exhibition and catalogue, A Flower from Every Meadow, would have been well under way.

  [2] See Christie's auction catalogue, Islamic, Indian, and South-East Asian Manuscripts, Miniatures and Works of Art, from November 24, 1987.

  [3] See note 2. See also the Acquisition Justification Form, object file, Collections Management Office.

  [4] See note 3.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Yoga: The Art of Transformation (October 19, 2013 to January 26, 2014)

  Vishnu: Hindu's Blue-skinned Saviour (February to October, 2011)

  Indian Court Painting: 16th-19th Century (March 25 to July 6, 1997)

  A Flower from Every Meadow: Indian Paintings from American Collections (April 12, 1973 to November 11, 1973)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Thomas A. Woods

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim

• Origin

  Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh state, India

• Credit Line

  Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection — funds provided by the Friends of the National Museum of Asian Art

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1730s, 1740s

• Name

  Benkaim, Catherine Glynn, Woods, Thomas A.

• Place

  Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh state, India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Art, Krishna, Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection, Krishna Vishvarupa

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings