The Hindu deity Krishna bathing with female cowherds

In devotional love poetry, Krishna is often portrayed as the divine lover and his consort Radha (shown here beside him with a halo) as his greatest devotee. Krishna’s various romantic adventures with the young women of Braj, where Krishna grew up as a cowherd, are described in various texts and are popular subjects in Indian art.

This painting shows Krishna in the river with female cowherds (gopis), in a scene that references, though does not strictly illustrate, a well-known story from the Bhagavata Purana (Ancient Tales of the Lord Vishnu). It describes how Krishna stole the gopis’ clothes (seen here as colored bundles in the background) while they bathed in the river. He refused to return the clothes until the women came out of the water to retrieve them. Initially embarrassed by their nakedness, their love for Krishna enticed them to do as instructed. This story is a metaphor for a devotee’s abandonment of social and worldly attachments to appear before god only with one’s pure spirit.