CC0 · no rights reserved
Krishna Exacts a Toll from the Milkmaids: Dana-Lila, from a Bhagavata Purana
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Krishna can be seen here teasing the girls who bring pots of milk and yogurt to the Brahmin priests. Thinking it a waste of time to feed the Brahmins, Krishna waylays them, pretending to be the owner of the land where they are walking. He threatens to topple their pots if they don’t pay him a toll. An exasperated cow herder follows.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineKrishna Exacts a Toll from the Milkmaids: Dana-Lila, from a Bhagavata Purana, c. 1600. Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Bikaner. Gum tempera and gold on paper; page: 21.6 x 29.2 cm (8 1/2 x 11 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund, 2018.186
Similar works
Malar Ragini: Krishna Playing the Flute to Seven Gopis Holding Musical Instruments, from the Ragamala Series
Krishna celebrates Holi
Krishna Abhisarika Nayika, from a Rasikapriya manuscript
Rishyashringa addresses the courtesans, from the "Shangri" Ramayana
Krishna and Radha with Their Confidantes: Page from a Dispersed Gita Govinda
A Heroine and Her Paramour: Malavi Ragini, from a Ragamala