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

With Plates 3, 5 and 6, an example of Kangra painting in its most serene
form.

Krishna, having defied the hydra-headed snake whose poison has befouled
the River Jumna, is dancing in triumph on its sagging heads. The snake's
consorts plead for mercy--one of them holding out bunches of lotus
flowers, the others folding their hands or stretching out their arms in
mute entreaty. The river is once again depicted as a surging flood but it
is the master-artist's command of sinuous line and power of suffusing a
scene of turmoil with majestic calm which gives the picture greatness.

Although the present study is true to the _Bhagavata Purana_ where the
snake is explicitly described as vacating the water and meeting its end
on dry land, other pictures, notably those from Garhwal[129] follow the
_Vishnu Purana_ and show the final struggle taking place in the river
itself.

[Footnote 129: Reproduced A.K. Coomaraswamy, _Rajput Painting_ (Oxford,
1916), Vol. II, Plates 53 and 54.]

[Illustration]

PLATE 9

_Balarama killing the Demon Pralamba_

Illustration to the _Bhagavata Purana_
Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790
National Museum, New Delhi

A further example from the Kangra series, here attributed to Purkhu.

As part of his war on Krishna and young boys, the tyrant Kansa sends
various demons to harry and kill them, the present picture showing four
stages in one such attack. To the right, the cowherd children, divided
into two parties, face each other by an ant-hill, Krishna with arms
crossed heading the right-hand group and Balarama the left. Concealed as a
cowherd in Krishna's party, the demon Pralamba awaits an opportunity of
killing Balarama. The second stage, in the right-hand bottom corner, shows
Balarama's party giving the other side 'pick-a-backs,' after having been
vanquished in a game of guessing flowers and fruit. The third stage is
reached in the top left-hand corner. Here Pralamba has regained his demon
form and is hurrying off with Balarama. Balarama's left hand is tightly
clutched but with his right he beats at the demon's head. The fourth and
final stage is illustrated in the bottom left-hand corner where Balarama
has subdued the demon and is about to slay him.

The picture departs from the normal version, as given in the _Bhagavata
Purana,_ by showing Balarama's side, instead of Krishna's, carrying out
the