Jaur Gita Govinda #7
BY: SUN STAFF
Nov 17, USA (SUN) — This month-long series explores text and manuscript illustrations from Gita-Govinda
Text Folios No. 14 and 15
Bhavas part 16 and 17
Bhavas 16 and 17 describe a conversation between Radha and the sakhi. This time the sakhi addresses Radha and tells her that Krsna, her eternal companion of many lives, is standing in front of her and soon her hopes of union with him will be fulfilled. But Radha in her anger and her pride will not relent. The sakhi
Illustration Folios 13 and 14
Folio 13 has a distant connection to the text, which talks about the sakhi's pleading with Radha. The first section of folio 13 depicts Balagopala tending a cow on the banks of the Yamuna against a background of hills and mountains.
In the second panel, Radha stands in a svastika pose, grasping a tree with one hand and holding a garland in the other. A small shrine is seen in the background. There is the suggestion of the banks of the Yamuna in one corner and hills in the background, similar to the preceding panel.
In the last section, only a group of cattle is shown, on a red foreground with the Yamuna and receding hills in the background.
Except for the second section, the pictorial scene has little relationship with the loaded imagery of the text. The compositional pattern of the folio is arranged with a sense of design, through the repetitive motif of the Yamuna in each of the sections. Pink and yellow constitute the background. The diagonal in a corner of section two of folio 13 suggesting the Yamuna is beautifully balanced, with curves in sections one and three placed in opposing movements.
Krsna has finally arrived, and the sakhi pleads with Radha to receive him.
Folio 14 captures the powerful drama of the lovers waiting, each reluctant to give up his or her pride. The panel is divided into four sections. In the first two, Radha and Krsna are turned away from one another, but each has a hand outstretched in the direction of their beloved. The opposed movement and the turning away communicate a sense of tension.
In the third panel Krsna sits lonely and bewildered, with one hand on the ground and the other supporting his chin. In the fourth, Radha sits forlorn, this time facing Krsna. Both are equally expectant but unable to relent. Each of the panels conveys a different mood in a quick but balanced sequence of events.
