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Lot Essay
A bearded sage and Narada, a celestial musician carrying a vina, bid farewell to Indra (the king of gods) who stands in the doorway of his golden palace amidst the clouds, before diving headlong towards Earth. There are ladies within the palace who appear to be looking down at the throne where either Narada or the sage must have been sitting.
This painting is related to an episode from the first canto of the Bhagavata Purana when Narada describes how he was cursed by his father Brahma. During a fire sacrifice, whilst singing devotional songs, Narada was distracted by the presence of apsaras (heavenly damsels) in the assembly. This threw his father into a rage and he cursed Narada to be stripped of his spiritual and divine splendour and to be reborn as a human being on Earth. As a result of this curse, Narada was born as the son of a maidservant in a hermitage. He spent several years in search of enlightenment. He prayed to Vishnu till he received divine blessings and then decided to spend the rest of his life as a Vishnu devotee.
This painting is related to an episode from the first canto of the Bhagavata Purana when Narada describes how he was cursed by his father Brahma. During a fire sacrifice, whilst singing devotional songs, Narada was distracted by the presence of apsaras (heavenly damsels) in the assembly. This threw his father into a rage and he cursed Narada to be stripped of his spiritual and divine splendour and to be reborn as a human being on Earth. As a result of this curse, Narada was born as the son of a maidservant in a hermitage. He spent several years in search of enlightenment. He prayed to Vishnu till he received divine blessings and then decided to spend the rest of his life as a Vishnu devotee.