I started the Krishna/Arjun project for my Asian art class in December 2009.
The picture depicts one of the most important scenes from the epic poem, Mahabharata.
The story goes like this: before the Kurukshetra War, Arjun and Duryodhan go to Krishna to ask for help. Krishna was asleep at the time so Duryodhan (who thought himself equal to Krishna) waited by his head and Arjun (a humble devotee of Krishna) waited by his feet. When Krishna woke up, he saw Arjun first and asked him first to voice his reasons for being there.
Krishna had one of the largest armies in those times. Being a cousin to both, Arjun and Duryodhan, he had to be fair and so gave them an option to either take his entire "opulent, Lordly army" or Himself (but he would not raise any weapon). Since Arjun got the right to choose first, he picked Krishna himself and asked him to be his charioteer. At difficult times when Arjun could not oppose his own family on the battlefield, Krishna gave him courage and wisdom to follow through.
The verse on the drawing (written in Sanskrit) reads:
yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham
Meaning: Whenever there are discrepancies in the discharge of natural laws of God, then God incarnates. Either He incarnates Himself, or He sends His bona fide representative, or He sends His powerful representative, like that. So whenever there is incarnation of God, it is to be understood that there are discrepancies in the matter of discharging the laws made by God. And the laws made by God are called dharma, or religion.
I have done many art projects over the years but none compare to the one above. There is a lot of intricate work required on the chariot and the accessories. Since it was for an art class, time was limited and I needed a lot patience to get the project done. Personally, I would say I draw the worst clouds ever, and that is evident in the drawing above (but I'm improving).
