The Hindu god Krishna converses with the Pandava brother Yudhishthira, from a manuscript of the Razmnama (a Persian translation of the Mahabharata)

Krishna, who is the ruler of the kingdom of Dvaraka, is one of the closest advisors to the Pandava brothers. In this painting, the blue-skinned Krishna converses with Yudhishthira, the eldest of the five brothers. Gathered near this pair are the other Pandavas, various associates, and courtly women.
The Razmnama (Book of Wars) is the Persian title given to the translation of the Mahabharata that was undertaken at the order of the Mughal emperor Akbar (reigned 1556-1605) An illustrated imperial version was completed for him around 1587. This painting and the one to your right come from a manuscript-closely related to the imperial one-that was commissioned by the Khankhanan (Lord of Lords) 'Abd al-Rahim, commander in chief of the Mughal armies., Identifiable by his dark skin and saffron-colored robes, Krishna presides here over a council and converses with the hero Yudhishthira, the eldest of the Pandava brothers. As advisor to the Pandavas, heroes of the Mahabharata epic, Krishna demonstrates his great wisdom and knowledge. In the Mahabharata’s lengthy text—nearly ten times longer than Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey combined—which describes a bloody war between two groups of cousins, several core teachings of Hinduism are explained through Krishna’s dialogues with various characters in the story. The Pandavas seek Krishna’s advice on subjects like moral conduct, military strategy, and ethics in warfare. The deity’s responses function as guidelines underlying Hindu religious philosophy. The Bhagavata Gita, a fundamental text of Hinduism, is a conversation elsewhere in the Mahabharata between Krishna and the hero Arjuna.
Interest in the captivating stories about Krishna was not restricted to a Hindu context. This manuscript, a Persian translation of the Sanskrit Mahabharata, was probably made for the (Muslim) Mughal emperor Akbar’s chief military commander. The setting of the epic here is a Mughal-period court scene.