id: 130365 accession number: 1953.13 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1953.13 updated: 2023-05-31 11:29:57.696000 The birth of Rama and his brothers, from Chapter 17 of the Bala Kanda (Book of Childhood) of the Adhyatma Ramayana (Rama's Journey of the Supreme Spirit) from the Brahmanda Purana (Ancient Scripture of the Cosmic Egg), c. 1820–30. Northern India, Pahari Region, Himachal Pradesh, Rajput Kingdom of Kangra, Court of Aniruddh Chand (reigned 1823–33). Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper; painting: 25.1 x 34 cm (9 7/8 x 13 3/8 in.); overall: 29.9 x 38.5 cm (11 3/4 x 15 3/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Edward L. Whittemore Fund 1953.13 title: The birth of Rama and his brothers, from Chapter 17 of the Bala Kanda (Book of Childhood) of the Adhyatma Ramayana (Rama's Journey of the Supreme Spirit) from the Brahmanda Purana (Ancient Scripture of the Cosmic Egg) title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1820–30 creation date earliest: 1820 creation date latest: 1845 current location: 242B Indian Painting creditline: Edward L. Whittemore Fund copyright: --- culture: Northern India, Pahari Region, Himachal Pradesh, Rajput Kingdom of Kangra, Court of Aniruddh Chand (reigned 1823–33) technique: Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art collection: Indian Art type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Painting: 25.1 x 34 cm (9 7/8 x 13 3/8 in.); Overall: 29.9 x 38.5 cm (11 3/4 x 15 3/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: [[verso, in Sanskrit]] aśame māsi kausalyā suṣuve putramadbhutam madhumāse site pakśe navamyāṁ karkaṭe śubhe punarvakhṛkśasahite uccasye grahapañcake meṣaṁ pūṣaṇī saṁprāpte puṣpavṛṣtisamākule āvirāsījjagannathaḥ paramātmā sanātanaḥ nīlotpaladalaśyāmaḥ pītavāsaścaturbhujaḥ jalajāruṇanetrantaḥ sphuratkuṇḍalamaṇḍitaḥ sahastrārkapratīkāśaḥ kirīṭī kuñcitālakaḥ śaṅkhacakragadāpadyavanamālāvirājitaḥ anugrahākhyahṛtsthendusūcakasmitacandrikaḥ karuṇārasasampūrṇavishālotpalalocanaḥ śrīvatsahārakeyūranū purādivibhūṣaṇa. dṛṣṭvā taṁ paramātmānaṁ kausalyā vikhayākulā harṣaśrupūrṇanayanā natvā prāñjalirabravīt kausalyovāca devadeva namastestu śṁkhacakragadādhara parmātmācyutonantaḥ pūrṇastvaṁ puruṣottamaḥ vadantyagocaraṁ vācāṁ buddhathādīnāmatīndriyam tvāṁ vedavādinaḥ sattamātraṁ jnanaikavigraham svameva māyayā viśvaṁ sṛjasvavasi haṁsi ca sattvadiguṇasaṁyuktasturya evāmalaḥ sadā karoviva na kartā svaṁ gacchasīva na gacchasi śṛṇoṣi na śṛṇovīva paśyasīva na paśyasi agrāṇo śmanāḥ suddha ityādi śrutirabravīt samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu tiṣṭhaapi na lakśyase ajnānadhvāntacitānāṁ vyakta eva sumedhasām jaṭhare tava dṛśṁyante brahmāṇḍāḥ paramāṇavaḥ tvaṁ mamodarasambhūta iti lokānviḍambase bhakteṣu pāravaśyaṁ te dṛṣṭaṁ megha raghūttama saṁsārasāgare magnā patiputradhanādiṣu bhramāmi māyayā tegha pādamūlamupāgatā deva tvadrūpametanme sadā tiṣṭhatu mānase āvṛṇotu na māṅ māyā tava viśvavimohinī upasaṁhara viśvāsma ado rūpamalaukikam darśayasva mahānandabālabhāvaṁ sukomalam lalitāliṁganālāpaistariṣyāmyutkataṁ tamaḥ śrībhagavānuvāca yadyadiṣṭhaṁ tavāstyamba tattadravatu nānyatha ahaṁ tu brahmaṇā pūrvaṃ bhūmerbhārāpanuttye prārthito rāvaṇaṃ mānuṣatvamupāgataḥ svayā daśarathenāhaṁ tapasārādhitaḥ purā matputratvābhikāḍikśaṇyā tathā kṛtamanindite rūpametatvayā dṛṣṭaṃ prāttanaṃ tapasaḥ phalam maddarshanaṃ vimokśāya kalpate hmanyadurlabhaṁ saṁvādamāvayoryastu paṭheddhā ṣṛṇuyādapi sa yāti mama sārūpyaṁ maraṇe matsmṛtiṃ labhet ityuktvā mātaraṁ rāmo bālo bhūtvā ruroda ha bālatvepīndranīlābho viśālakśotisundaraḥ bālāruṇapratīkāśo lālitākhilalokapaḥ atha rājā daśarathaḥ śrutvā putrodbhavotsavam ānandārṇavamagnpsāvāyayau guruṇa saha rāmaṁ rājīvapatrākśaṁ dṛṣtvā harṣaśrusaṁplutaḥ guruṇa jātakarmāṇi kartavyāni cakāra saḥ kaikeyī cātha bharatamasūta kamalekśaṇa sumitrāyāṁ yayau jātau purṇendusadṛśānanau translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Sacred India opening date: 1985-11-05T05:00:00 Sacred India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 5, 1985-January 12, 1986). title: Imagining Rama's Journey (Indian Painting rotation) opening date: 2023-03-10T05:00:00 Imagining Rama's Journey (Indian Painting rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 10-September 17, 2023). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE (Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) date: ?–1953 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1953– footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: King Dasharatha thought his wife Kaikeyi, shown sleeping, was the most beautiful of his three wives. digital description: wall description: In a retelling of the Ramayana from the 1200s, the blue god Vishnu appears in a vision to Queen Kaushalya just before she gives birth to his incarnation as Rama. In the foreground, her co-wife Queen Sumitra nurses one of her own newborn twins, Lakshmana and Shatrughna. Rama’s half-brother Bharata lies swaddled next to his mother Queen Kaikeyi on an adjacent terrace of the women’s quarters. The patterned carvings and textiles of the palace interior communicate the luxury into which the princes were born, and from which Rama and Lakshmana will be eventually exiled. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Boger, Ann C., and Joellin K. DeOreo. Sacred India: Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1985. page number: Reproduced: p.25. url: Ward, William E. "Three Indian Paintings." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 42, no. 1 (Jan. 1955): 12–15. page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 13–14 url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25142007 Leach, Linda York. Indian Miniature Paintings and Drawings. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1986. page number: Reproduced: p. 302, cat. no. 130 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1953.13/1953.13_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1953.13/1953.13_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1953.13/1953.13_full.tif