Cleveland Museum of Art

Krishna and Satyabhama Storm the Citadel of Naraka, folio 97 from a Bhagavata Purana

Date

c. 1775

Medium

Gum tempera and ink on paper

Culture

Nepal, Kathmandu

Department

Indian and Southeast Asian Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

From a series depicting the life of Krishna, an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, this scene takes place at the demon king Naraka’s citadel. Seen from above, the mountaintop fortress is surrounded by concentric fortifications that recall the format of a mandala. In the upper left chambers, Naraka sits with nymphs he abducted from heaven. At the right, coming to rescue them, the blue Krishna with his wife blasts through the fortifications on his man-eagle mount Garuda. He prepares to shoot a crescent-shaped arrowhead that has the magical power of a mantra capable of destroying the multiheaded red demon guard. Krishna’s arrowheads are crescent-shaped, meaning that they have the destructive power of special mantras.

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