Krishna and the Till Taking Exploits

In this playful depiction, the two adolescent Hindu god brothers Krishna and Balaram stop a milkmaid (gopi) as she makes her way to the market in Mathura to sell her milk products. They teasingly block her way on the road, demanding the butter in her jar as rightfully theirs as a form of tax. The figures seem to sway in a gentle dance as their uplifted arms, gestures, scarves, and clothing form a graceful series of arcs. Delightful details in this image include the way in which Balaram licks his thumb in enjoyment of the milkmaid’s tasty treat, while Krishna is caught in the act of knocking the pot off the gopi’s head. In his childhood, Krishna was notorious for stealing butter behind the milkmaids’ backs from the hanging pots where it was stored. In such exploits, butter—a concentrated form of milk —is symbolically equated with the love of a mother and her life-giving nourishment to beloved infants. This particular drawing was never intended to be finished in colorful paints. It is, instead, a charbagh or pounce, which was used to reproduce many copies of this scene. After the outline was drawn, it was pricked with holes and then charcoal dust was rubbed through the openings. The resulting dots aided in the drawing of the original design on a new piece of paper placed below.