Vasudeva transferring the infant Krishna from the prison of Kamsa to Nanda’s house at Gokul

Krishna, the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, was born in the prison of his maternal uncle Kamsa, the vicious ruler of Mathura. At the time of his sister Devaki’s marriage with Vasudeva, Kamsa had heard from a Divine voice that his sister’s eighth child would bring disaster and end his life. Hearing this, Kamsa imprisoned Devaki and Vasudeva soon after their marriage and killed seven of her children as they were born.

When Devaki gave birth to her eighth child, Vasudava witnessed a miracle. The doors of the prison cell, which were all locked and protected by heavily armed guards, were open and unguarded. Vasudeva took the child out of the prison without any difficulty.

It was a dark night with heavy rain, and the flooded Yamuna waves rose high. A thousand-headed serpent, the great Adi-shesh, appeared suddenly and raised his hood to form an umbrella to protect Vasudeva and the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu - the infant Krishna - from the heavy rains. There was another miracle when the river Yamuna lowered its water providing a smooth path for Vasudeva to carry the newborn safely to Gokul, to his friend Nanda’s house. Nanda’s wife Yashoda had also given birth, to a girl child. Vasudeva exchanged the children and brought the baby girl back to prison.

The painting is divided into two parts by a fortified wall made of pink stone. Within the prison, Devaki is shown seated in a pavilion or cell with another lady. They are surrounded by a large number of armed guards, but at this moment the guards are all asleep. In the lower part of the painting, Vasudeva is shown carrying Krishna in a basket on his head as he crosses the river Yamuna. A lion stands on its hind legs to have a glimpse of the child and a snake is trying to shelter Krishna with his hood.

On the right side of the painting, as well as on the reverse, there is Persian text beautifully written in the Nastali’q script, giving an account of Krishna’s birth. This is definitely a folio of the Bhagavata Purana, written and illustrated with fine calligraphy and paintings. This is a late Golconda style painting. The Deccan rulers, the ruling Qutb Shahi Sultans, were replaced by Mughal representatives who were extremely artistic and gave patronage to miniature painting by employing local artists. Deccani paintings retained creativity, and local concepts and techniques continued in terms of paper, pigments and colouring.