Radha, Finally!

We are now at the climax - I believe, a triumphant one - of the story narrated in this old post.

So, let me thank artist N K Vinod for his patience and persistence and declare with joy and relief: RADHE, RADHE!!

“Muhuravalokita mandana lila
Madhuripurahamiti bhavanasila”
- ("Staring at her ornament’s natural grace, she fancies: “I am Krishna, Madhu’s foe”)

"Having adorned herself with all the ornaments Krishna is known to favour – a crown embellished with peacock feathers, a garland of forest blossoms, earrings shaped like ‘Makaras’, the ‘gopi’ vermillion mark on the forehead - and poised to play the flute as her beloved does so enchantingly, Radha confidently admires in a mirror how thorough a job she has done, of not merely mimicking or impersonating Krishna but actually becoming Krishna.

....Despite its joyous and unfettered celebration of physical beauty and carnal love, Gitagovinda's real aim is to convey the supreme realization of a Truth far beyond the material – that Radha and Krishna are but one transcendental being. Indeed, our visualization focusses on Radha’s deep yearning to be one with her cosmic Beloved and we have chosen to work out a visual representation of a remarkable couplet from that foundational text – a theme without real precedent in any school of painting ..."