Krishna and Brahma

This rare manuscript page from Orissa depicts Brahma, the God of Creation, sitting astride his animal vehicle, a goose. His four heads, which look on the four directions, symbolize the four sacred texts (in Sanskrit, Vedas) of Hinduism. He confronts another god of the Hindu trinity named Vishnu, who has transformed himself into his Krishna manifestation and holds a divine flute. Like Brahma, he is clothed in the traditional manner of Hindu gods: bare-chested with a long sash around his shoulders and wearing a loincloth. Both gods are heavily ornamented, also in the customary manner, with earrings, necklaces, garlands, armbands, bracelets, and anklets. In the Orissian painting style, Brahma’s fair skin is shown in bright yellow, while Krishna’s skin is most often depicted as blue—his name literally means "dark blue" or "black".

In this illustration from the Ancient Story of God (Bhagavata Purana) devoted to the life and exploits of Vishnu, Brahma is depicted stunned and confused by his vision of Vishnu as Krishna. The incident leading up to this event is recorded in this Hindu holy text (but not inscribed below the image on this manuscript page): Brahma decided to test Krishna by spiriting away the god’s cows and cowherd boys from behind his back. Upon discovering this, Krishna assumed the form of all the cows and boys so that they would not be missed at their home village. Brahma returned to the cowherd village one year later, only to find the same cows and attendant boys in duplicate. Stunned, he realized that they were all forms of the divine Krishna.