Vipralabdha Nayika

The theme is systematically dealt with in the famous poem Rasikapriya by Keshavadasa who lived in Orcha, Madhya Pradesh in the 16th century. This painting is inspired by Rasikapriya as indicated by an inscription on the reverse referring to the twenty-third verse of the seventh chapter of the Rasikapriya of Keshavadasa. On a moonlit night the heroine has dressed up with jewellery. The bed of banyan leaves is prepared under a green tree on the bank of a river, and after eagerly waiting for her lover through the night, she is now discarding all her ornaments in despair; because he betrayed her. Her pinkish complexion, thick locks of hair falling over her neck almost reaching her knees, her firm circular breasts, elongated eyes deeply engrossed in thought and sharply curved eyebrows lend an unusual charm to this painting.