The Birds Try to Beat Down the Ocean

Currently not on view

The Birds Try to Beat Down the Ocean

18th century

Artist/maker unknown, Indian

Lapwings are ground-nesting shorebirds and both parents care for the young. In this story, a lapwing couple laid their eggs too close to the ocean. Furious with the ocean, the male lapwing recruits all the birds to help him destroy it. First they fly out over the ocean, trying to beat it down with their wings. After various other attempts, all futile, they turn to Garuda, king of the birds and vahana (vehicle) of the great god Vishnu. Garuda intercedes and the mighty ocean returns the lapwing's eggs. The great ocean thought itself unassailable by the tiny lapwing but:

Whoever adopts an adversarial stance
before ascertaining the enemy's strength
runs the risk of defeat, like the Ocean
who pitted himself against the lapwing.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

The Birds Try to Beat Down the Ocean
Page from a dispersed series of the Panchatantra (Book I: The Estrangement of Friends)

Date:

18th century

Artist:

Artist/maker unknown, Indian

Medium:

Opaque watercolor on paper

Dimensions:

Image: 2 1/4 × 6 13/16 inches (5.7 × 17.3 cm) Sheet: 6 × 9 7/16 inches (15.2 × 24 cm)

Classification:

Paintings

Credit Line:

Stella Kramrisch Collection, 1994

Accession Number:

1994-148-459

Geography:

Made in Rajasthan, India, Asia

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Currently not on view