The galloping horse carrying king Dushyant

The folio depicts King Dushyant leaving for the hermitage to protect the ascetics and ensure that their sacrificial rituals are not disturbed by the demons in the forest. King Dushyant is depicted in the chariot pulled by a team of white horses that gallop speedily towards the right. Behind the departing king, towards the left, are his entourage who have been tasked to proceed to the capital at Hastinapur to attend a ceremony assembled by the Queen Mother.

The atmosphere seems to be solemn and sombre as the retinue of the king sees him off. The grave air is especially evident in the demeanor of the two men in the centre, the king’s close confidante Madhavya and another courtier dressed in white - with their glances downcast, portrayed in attitudes of leaning ponderously on their staffs. A vacant look attends the king’s chauri bearer who glances ahead echoed in the glances of the king’s bodyguards who stare ahead blankly in the direction of the departing king.

The empty throne and the brightly coloured bolsters on the green carpet where the king is usually depicted as sitting in the various folios of this painting set, are conspicuous by being unoccupied and their emptiness echoes a sense of the loss of the king who will soon depart. The three spaces of the king have a bright royal blue highlighting them - the blue bolster on the left on the carpet, the carpet under the throne rendered in blue on the right, and the cloth hanging on the chariot in which the king sits in the centre, linking them together.

In an unintended representation, the figure of Dushyant is depicted as diminutive compared to the much larger figures of the king’s close friend Madhavya and the courtier standing next to him, who almost seem to loom over the king.

According to the hierarchical scale generally used in Indian painting, the figure of the king should have been made the largest. This anomaly, however, can be explained by the use of charba that the artist would be using for the chariot and the horses. The artist using such a stencil for the chariot and horses would have wanted to fit the figure of Dushyant within that space, making the figure of the king smaller than his courtiers. The other figures, however, are rendered in different scales as a similar scale charba was not available to him. The charioteer on the other hand is rendered in the same scale as the king and according to the protocol, he is shown as slightly diminutive as compared to the king due to his lesser socio-political status.