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SUMMARY:Krishna: Form as Metaphor
DTSTART:20260702T100000Z
DTEND:20260702T113000Z
DTSTAMP:20260601T093618Z
UID:krishna-form-as-metaphor-02-07-2026-14192@ceres.rub.de
CATEGORIES:
DESCRIPTION:Guest lecture by Seema Bawa\, professor specializing in Histo
 ry of South Asian Art and Culture at Department of History\, University of
  Delhi\n\nThe talk examines the multivalence of meanings through which K
 ṛṣṇatva—Krishnahood—is described and experienced. These meanings
  operate through rupaka (metaphor) and other visual and literary devices\,
  collectively termed alaṃkāra in Sanskrit aesthetics. Historically\, Kr
 ishna cannot be reduced to a singular persona\; rather\, he has emerged ov
 er time through a succession of manifestations that may loosely be termed 
 metaphorical: from Nārāyaṇa-Vāsudeva to Śyāma to Brij Bihārī to K
 aṇha. Each name and form carries connotations that attend not only to th
 e Lord's form but also to the differential modes in which the devotee expe
 riences and “sees” Him\, as particular and as Universal. These have be
 en translated into the visual experience through sculptures\, paintings\, 
 and popular prints\, all serving different purposes and varying degrees of
  devotional experience.\n\nAnother way of “reading” Krishna is through
  the Bhāgavata traditions of the various sampradāyas of Kṛṣṇa devo
 tion. In these traditions\, each body part represents both the ideational 
 and the physical\; even the colour of his body serves as a metaphor for th
 e cosmos\, such as in the Bhāgavata traditions. Padma Purāṇa maps  tw
 elve cantos onto Krishna's body\, establishing a direct correspondence bet
 ween scriptural structure and divine anatomy.\n\n \n\n 
LOCATION:GB 5/150–152 „Ruhrpott“
URL:https://ceres.rub.de/de/events/krishna-form-as-metaphor-02-07-2026/
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