concept

The story of the Bhagvadgita. Seated on the throne and served by an attendant waving a whisk made of peacock feathers, the blind king Dhrtarastra listens as the visionary narrator Sanjaya relates the events of the battle between the Kaurava and the Pandava clans

MS Panjabi 255, folio 353 verso

The mahatmya of the second adhyaya. The bottom third of the painting depicts the frame story of Devasusara of Purana. The top two-thirds illustrate the embedded story of Gadia the goatherd: one of his goats chases away a lion, the ascetic Bala explains the meaning of the events, and Gadia and his animals ascend to Visnu's celestial dwelling Vaikuntha in their divine bodies

The narrative setting of the mahatmyas. Laksmi asks Visnu about the greatness of the Bhagvadgita as he reclines on the serpent Sesanaga in the cosmic ocean. The four headed god Brahma is seated on the lotus that emerges from Visnu's navel. The scalloped arch and rolled-up curtain at the yop of the picture evoke the symbols of temple icons

Krsna enchants the natural and human worlds with his flute. Standing in the tribhangi or 'three bends' posture, Krsna plays the flute as enchanted gopis, cattle, and birds look on. A clump of trees act as a sheltering umbrella, the symbol of gods and kings in Indic iconography.

MS Panjabi 255, folio 103 verso

The mahatmya of the tenth adhyaya. The servants of Shiva find a dead Brahman in the city of Kasi on the auspicious day of Ekadasi. Shiva explains that by reciting the tenth aghyaya of the Bhagvadgita, the Brahman had once saved a swan and an apsara (fairy) who had been turned into a lotus. Shiva's attendants take the Brahman to Shiva's heaven

The mahatmya of the 13th adhyaya. An adulterous woman from the city of Harinam goes to the forest with her husband and is attacked by a tiger who only eats those who commit immoral acts. Reborn as a low-caste Chandala, the woman hears the 13th adhyaya of the Bhagvadgita from the holy man and asks him to recite it to the tiger as well. Both the woman and the tiger receive divine bodies and are taken to Visnu's heaven

MS Panjabi 255, folio 186 verso

MS Panjabi 255, folio 258 verso

MS Panjabi 255, folio 379 recto

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MS PANJABI 255

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MS Panjabi 255, folio 258 verso

MS Panjabi 255, folio 379 recto

Krsna enchants the natural and human worlds with his flute. Standing in the tribhangi or 'three bends' posture, Krsna plays the flute as enchanted gopis, cattle, and birds look on. A clump of trees act as a sheltering umbrella, the symbol of gods and kings in Indic iconography.