Krishna Splits the Double Arjuna Tree

Currently not on view

Krishna Splits the Double Arjuna Tree

c. 1720

Artist/maker unknown, Indian

As a toddler, Krishna stole his adoptive mother Yashoda's freshly churned butter and, standing on an overturned mortar (used for husking rice), fed it to a monkey. When Yashoda discovered this, she tied him to the mortar-or rather, Krishna allowed her to tie him, demonstrating the god's own submission to his devotees. Nearby was a twin-trunked Arjuna tree in which a sage had long ago imprisoned the two arrogant, drunken sons of Kubera, God of Riches. Fulfilling the sage's prophecy, Krishna rolled the mortar between the trunks and the tree split open to release the youths. Here they honor Krishna as the supreme being before departing cleansed and full of grace.

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Object Details

Title:

Krishna Splits the Double Arjuna Tree
Page from a dispersed series of the Bhagavata Purana

Date:

c. 1720

Artist:

Artist/maker unknown, Indian

Medium:

Opaque watercolor and gold on paper

Dimensions:

Image: 9 × 7 1/2 inches (22.9 × 19.1 cm) Sheet: 10 1/2 × 9 inches (26.7 × 22.9 cm)

Classification:

Paintings

Credit Line:

Stella Kramrisch Collection, 1994

Accession Number:

1994-148-470

Geography:

Made in Gujarat, India, Asia Probably made in Surat, Gujarat, India, Asia

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Currently not on view