Vishvarupa: The Cosmic Form of Krishna

Place CreatedNathdwara, Rajasthan, India, Asia

CultureIndia

Date18th Century

MediumOpaque watercolor and gold on paper

Credit LineGift of Jayantilal K. and Geeta J. Patel and family to further the study of Hinduism

DimensionsMaximum: 19 1/4 × 12 3/4 in. (48.9 × 32.4 cm) Mat: 30 × 21 1/4 in. (76.2 × 54 cm)

Object number2019.003.001

Label TextIn this scene from the Hindu scripture the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna’s cosmic form (vishvarupa) towers over armies of warring cousins. At the lower left, the great warrior Arjuna, seated in his chariot, leads his army into battle despite his hesitation about fighting members of his own family who advance toward him from the lower right. Krishna, Arjuna’s charioteer, encourages him to enter the fight to restore righteousness.

In the large blue figure in the center, Krishna reveals his true nature, containing all of creation: the heavens, the earth, and the netherworlds. Three golden heavens stretch above his head:

Krishna’s Heaven at the top, where he dances encircled by his lovers, the cowherd girls (gopis).

Vishnu’s Heaven in the middle, where the blue deity is flanked by worshipers.

Brahma’s Heaven in the Krishna’s crown, where the god sits, his four heads signifying the four Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism. The heavens are also flanked by the Vedas, represented as animal-headed figures.

Krishna’s mid-section contains the earth, which in Hindu cosmology is surrounded by a ring of saltwater, depicted in grey. Hindu shrines fill the earth, and Krishna reenacts his heavenly dance with the gopis.

Multiple eyes peer out from Krishna’s 10 jeweled arms which old Vishnu’s lotus, two conch shells, and discus. His fingertips take the forms of cows, horses, camels, and elephants. Beneath his hands, at left, Vishnu reclines on the eternal serpent Shesha as Lakshmi massages his feet. Shiva and his wife Parvati stand at right.

The with palaces in Krishna’s legs represent the netherworlds where the demon foes of the gods (daityas), the serpent deities (nagas), and other powerful beings reside.

Krishna thus reveals to Arjuna that he is more than just his charioteer – he is ultimate reality.
Exhibition HistoryThe Avatars of Vishnu, Michael C. Carlos Museum, April 24 - July 18, 2021
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, August 28, 2021 - Present

ProvenanceEx coll. Peter Cochrane (1913-2004), London, England. With Sotheby's New York, March 19, 2008, lot 289. Purchased by MCCM from Sotheby's London, May 1, 2019, lot 114.

Status

On view

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