n subject, the picture represents what Krishna saw on his return from
destroying the Yadavas at Prabhasa. Balarama, his half-brother, has gone
down to the sea and has there yielded up his spirit. Sesha, the great
serpent, who is part of Vishnu himself, is now issuing from the body
Balarama having been his incarnation. Snakes come to greet him while
Varuna, the god of water, stands as 'an old man of the sea' ready to
escort him to his long home.

[Illustration]

PLATE 2

_The Death of Krishna_

Illustration to the Persian abridgement of the
_Mahabharata_, the _Razmuama_ (or Book of the Wars)
By Mukund
Mughal (Akbar period), c. 1595
Collection H.H. the Maharaja of Jaipur, Jaipur

Following the death of Balarama, Krishna prepares to leave the world. He
sits in meditation and is shot in the sole of his right foot by Jara, a
Bhil hunter--the arrow which kills him being tipped with part of the iron
which has caused the destruction of the Yadavas.

The picture shows Krishna reclining on a platform of the kind still
constructed in India at the base of sacred trees. An arrow transfixes his
right foot while the hunter, dressed as a courtier in Mughal dress, is
shown releasing the bow. In front of Krishna stand four awe-struck
figures, representing the celestial sages and devotees of Vishnu who have
come to attend his passing. In the sky four gods look down. To the right
is Siva. Then, a little to the left, is four-headed Brahma, below him,
Indra, his body spotted with a thousand eyes and finally a fourth god of
uncertain identity. Around the platform surges the snarling sea as if
impatiently awaiting Krishna's death before engulfing the doomed Dwarka.

The painting is by a colleague of Basawan (Plate 1) and illustrates the
same great text.

[Illustration]

PLATE 3

_The Slaughter of an Innocent_

Illustration to the _Bhagavata Purana_
Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790
J.K. Mody collection, Bombay

Following the expansion of Indian miniature painting in the early
seventeenth century, illustrated versions of the tenth book of the
_Bhagavata Purana_ began to be produced in parts of Hindu India. It was in
the Punjab Hills, at the end of the eighteenth century, however, that
romance and religion achieved their most delicate expression. The artist
chiefly responsible was a certain Nainsukh who had arrived at the State of
Guler in about 1740. His way of painting had marked affinities with that
of Basawan (Plate 1) and