Inscribed on the painting with the principal characters' names in white devanagari script: Krisna,
Raja Muchukanda, Kalajamnabhasama ('ashes of Kalayavana') Inscribed on the verso in Sanskrit in
devanagari script with three verses from Canto X, chapter 51 of the Bhagavata Purana: '(10) And
now, bringing me this long distance, He is lying down here like a saint!' Thus erroneously thinking
that the man was Acyuta, he struck him full force with his foot. (11) The man woke up after a long
period of sleep and slowly opened his eyes. Looking around in every direction, he saw him standing
at his side. (12) Oh descendant of Bharata, by the glance the angered man cast on him, he was
instantly burned to ashes by a fire that was generated from within his own body.'
In this scene from the Bhagavata Purana, Krishna lures his enemy, king Kalayavana, to the cave of
the giant sage-king Muchukunda, where the sleeping figure of Muchukunda is rudely awakened by
the pursuing Kalayavana. According to the power he was granted when he fell asleep, any person
who wakens Muchukunda will be burnt to ashes. Now, when Kalayavana wakes him,
Muchukunda's fiery glance ignites the king, who is consumed by fire while the hidden Krishna
looks on. Krishna then reveals himself to Muchukunda as Vishnu and blesses him.
The Bhagavata Purana, 'The Ancient Story of God', is a chronicle of Vishnu, the second member of
the Hindu trinity, and of his avatars or incarnations. Books ten and eleven describe the career on
earth of Krishna, his eighth incarnation.
As in other miniatures attributed to this artist, the format is large, the style strong and confident, yet
retaining a delicacy and refinement that had become the hallmarks of Pahari painting, and carefully
written inscriptions in white are to be found on the surface of the painting. Our artist has produced
a remarkably bold creation very different from earlier treatments of this subject, where
Muchukunda is normally portrayed as a kingly figure. What strikes one immediately here is the bold
simplification of forms that allows the simplified curves of the sage's body to dominate the
composition. Exuberant candystriped rocks encircle the angry sage set in a strangely open landscape
dotted with just a few trees and disappearing beyond the far curved horizon. Muchukunda is linked
to Krishna by the dominant yellow colour of his shawl and the god's dhoti. Who could then resist 

the sage's angry glare, his screwed up features, as Kalayavana is consumed by the flames and
disappears into them.
For another painting from the same series, see Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 15 June 1979, lot
140, in which Krishna entices the army of Kalayavana to follow him.

Provenance

Sven Gahlin
Sotheby Parke Bernet June 15 1979, lot 141