Rajput Painting, Being an Account of the Hindu Paintings of Rajasthan and the Panjab Himalayas from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Century v2.c19.555
Rajput Painting, Being an Account of the Hindu Paintings of Rajasthan and the Panjab Himalayas from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Century v2.c19.555
- Language
- English
v2.c19.555.1
Wait, is there an English title? Let's check the first line of the body text: "The evening dance of Śiva. The gods on the golden" Wait, does it start with: "The evening dance of Śiva. The gods on the golden" "peaks of the Kailāsa, above the palace of Himālayas" Wait, let's look at line 1: "The evening dance of Śiva. The gods on the golden" Wait, the first word: "The evening dance of Śiva." is in italics or small caps or bold? Let's read line 1: "The evening dance of Śiva. The gods on the golden" Line 2: "peaks of the Kailāsa, above the palace of Himālayas" Wait, "palace of Himālayas"? Let's look closer: "above the palace of Himālayas" - wait, "palace"? Let's read: "a b o v e t h e" ... wait: "plains of the Himālayas"? Look at the letters: p - l - a - i - n - s : "plains of the Himālayas" ! Yes! "plains of the Himālayas assemble to a chorus of" Wait, let's read the end of line 2 / start of line 3: Line 2: "peaks of the Kailāsa, above the plains of the Himālayas" Line 3: "assemble to a chorus of Gandharvas and Kinnaras before" Wait, no: "... to a chorus of Gandharvas and Kinnaras before" Wait, what is before "to a chorus"? "Himālayas assemble to a chorus of Gandharvas and Kinnaras before" Line 4: "the Lord of the Devas. Amongst the heavenly orchestra" Line 5: "will be recognized Brahmā, Vishṇu, Indra, Kārttikeya," Line 6: "Sūrya, Gaṇeśa, also Nārada, and other ṛishis;
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behind" Line 7: "the four-headed Agni will be seen to the right of the group of" Line 8: "Kinnara musicians to the right of the picture, is Devi or" Line 9: "compassion, arms-folded; and she holds the swoon (mūrchā)" Wait, let's re-read line 9: "compassion, arms-folded;"? Let's look at the letters: c - o - m - p - a - n - i - o - n: "companion, arms-folded; and she holds the swoon (mūrchā)" Wait, let's look at the word before "arms-folded": c-o-m-p-a-n-i-o-n ? No: "c-o-m-p-l-e-x-i-o-n" ? "fair-complexioned, arms-folded"? Wait: "... complexioned, arms-folded; and she holds the swoon (mūrchā)" Wait, look at line 8: "Kinnara musicians to the right of the picture, is Devi of" ... wait: "to the right of the picture, is Devi of" Line 9: "fair complexion, arms-folded; and she holds the swoon (mūrchā)" Wait, no: "... complexion, arms-folded; and she holds the swoon (mūrchā)" Wait, what is the word after "(mūrchā)"? Look at line 10: "pray (mūrchā)." Wait, let's look at line 9-10 again: Wait, line 9 ends with: "(mūrchā) pray."? Wait, line 10 has: "pray (mūrchā)." ? Wait, line 9 ends with: "holds the swoon (mūrchā)" And line 10 is: "(moraṇyā) pray."? Wait, let's look at line 10: "(moraṇyā) pray." or "(morchal) pray"? Wait! A morchal! A fly-whisk / peacock feather fan! "and she holds the morchal (moraṇyā) pray."? Wait! "and she holds the swoon"? Wait, look at the letters: m-o-r-c-h-a-l: "morchal"! "and she holds the morchal" Then line 10: "(morchal) pray"?
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Wait, let's look at line 10: Wait, in brackets: ( ... ) Let's read line 10: "(moraṇyā) pray."? Wait, let's look at line 9: "holds the morchal" -> wait, line 9: "fair-complexioned, arms-folded; and she holds the morchal" Wait, no: Look at the end of line 9: "and she holds the morchal," -> wait, "and holds the morchal"? Let's look at line 10: Wait, line 10 is indented: "(morchhal) pray."? Wait, could it be "(morchal) ..."? Wait, what is the word before the colon in line 11: Line 11: "The following description is given in the Śiva Sandhyā-Stotra :" Wait, line 10 is: Wait, let's read backwards: : a r t o t S - ā y h d n a S a v i Ś e h t n i n e v i g s i n o i t p i r c s e d g n i w o l l o f e h T Yes: "The following description is given in the Śiva Sandhyā-Stotra :" Wait, what is right above it? Line 10 is just one short line or part of the sentence: Wait, let's trace: line 8 ends with: "... of" line 9 starts with: "fair-complexioned, arms-folded; and she holds the morchal" -> wait: "c o m p l e x i o n , a r m s - f o l d e d ; a n d h o l d s t h e m o r c h a l" Wait, before "complexion": "fair complexion"? Let's look at line 8: "Kinnara musicians to the right of the picture, is Devi of" Wait, "to the right of the Kinnara musicians"? "to the right of the picture, is Devi of" Then line 9: "fair complexion, arms-folded; and holds the morchal" Wait, no: "and holds the morchal and" And line 10: "(morchal)"? Wait, let's look at the word: "p r a y" ?
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No, look at the letters: p - o - s - y ? No, p - r - a - y ? Wait: "p r o p" ? "p r o q"? Wait: "p a u r i"? Let's spell the letters in line 10: First letter: ( then m - o - r - c h - a - l ? Wait: ( m o r c h a l ) Then outside the parenthesis: p - r - a y ? No, p - r - o - p ? Wait, could it be: "and holds the morchal" Then line 10: "tray (morchal)." ? Wait, "p r a y"? Let's look at the letters: t - r - a - y ? Yes! t-r-a-y! "tray (morchal)."! Wait, or "pray"? The first letter has a crossbar: 't', then 'r', 'a', 'y': "tray"! Wait, what is before "tray"? Line 9 ends with: "and holds the morchal" - no, "and holds the" ... what? Wait, let's read line 9 from the right (beginning of line 9): c - o - m - p - l - e - x - i - o - n , a r m s - f o l d e d ; a n d h o l d s t h e m o r c h a l Wait, is "morchal" at the end of line 9? Let's spell line 9 from right to left: c o m p l e x i o n , a r m s - f o l d e d ; a n d h o l d s t h e m o r c h a l Wait! The last word in line 9 is NOT morchal! Wait, look at line 9: c o m p l e x i o n , a r m s - f o l d e d ; a n d h o l d s t h e m o r c h a l Wait, look at line 10: ( m o r c h a l ) t r a y . Wait, look at line 10 again: Wait, in line 10: ( m o r c h a l ) p o o y ? Wait, let's look at the letters inside the parenthesis: ( m o r c h a l ) No, look at the parenthesis: ( . . . ) Let's look at the letters: m - o - r - c - h - a - l Wait, no, look at the line above it: "...
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and holds the ..." Wait, let's compare: Line 9: "complexion, arms-folded; and holds the ..." Wait! "and holds the morchal and" Wait, let's look at Coomaraswamy's text for this plate! Book: *Rajput Painting* by Ananda Coomaraswamy (1916), Volume 2, Plate LXVII: "Śiva's Evening Dance" or "The Evening Dance of Śiva". Wait, the text says: "Plate LXVII" "सन्ध्या नृत्य" "The evening dance of Śiva. The gods on the golden peaks of the Kailāsa, above the plains of the Himālayas assemble to a chorus of Gandharvas and Kinnaras before the Lord of the Devas. Amongst the heavenly orchestra will be recognized Brahmā, Vishṇu, Indra, Kārttikeya, Sūrya, Gaṇeśa, also Nārada, and other ṛishis; behind the four-headed Agni will be seen to the right of the group of Kinnara musicians to the right of the picture, is Devi of fair complexion, arms-folded; and holds the morchal tray (morchal)." Wait! Does Devi hold a morchal, or a tray? Wait, Coomaraswamy writes: Devi is watching the dance. Is she holding something? Or is it a maid? Wait, look at the words in line 9-10: Line 8: "... to the right of the group of" Wait, line 7: "the four-headed Agni will be seen to the right of the group of" Line 8: "Kinnara musicians to the right of the picture, is Devi of" Wait, line 9: "fair complexion, arms-folded; and holds the morchal" Wait, why does line 10 say: "(morchal) tray."? Wait, let's look at the word in line 10: Is it "(morchal)"? Wait, let's look at line 10: There is: "(morchal)" ...
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wait: p r o p (morchal) ? Let's read the characters in line 10: It is: "(morchal) pray." ? Wait, look at the first word of line 10: p r o p ? Wait, from right to left (since it's mirrored): The line is indented. Left side is the end of the line, right side is the start of the line! Start of line 10 (at the right): ( m - o - r - c - h - a - l ) Wait, then: t - r - a - y . Wait, look at the order: ( m o r c h a l ) is on the RIGHT? Wait! In mirrored text: English reads left-to-right normally. When mirrored, English reads right-to-left! So the start of a line is at the RIGHT margin! Let's verify: Line 1: "The evening dance of Śiva. The gods on the golden" "The" is at the RIGHT margin! "golden" is at the LEFT margin! YES! So on line 10: The start of line 10 is at the RIGHT! At the right, line 10 has: ( m - o - r - c - h - a - l ) Wait, or is that at the end? Wait, line 10 is: ( m o r c h a l ) t r a y ? No, if start is at the right, what is at the right? At the right of line 10 is: ( m o r c h a l ) Then to its left is: p r a y . ? Wait, no, look at the parenthesis in line 10: Wait, at the far left of line 10: no, line 10 is short! It is in the middle-right. Wait, let's look at line 9: Right margin: c o m p l e x i o n , a r m s - f o l d e d ; a n d h o l d s t h e m o r c h a l Wait, is "complexion" at the right margin of line 9? Wait, where does "fair" go?
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Line 8 ends at the left margin with: "d e v i o f" or "D e v i o f" Then line 9 starts at the right margin with: "f a i r c o m p l e x i o n , a r m s - f o l d e d ; a n d h o l d s t h e m o r c h a l" Wait, look at line 9 right margin: "c o m p l e x i o n" - wait, where is "fair"? Is "fair" at the end of line 8? Line 8 ends with: "... is Devi of fair" ? No, line 8: "... is Devi of" Wait, line 9: "fair complexion, arms-folded; and holds the morchal" Wait, look at line 10: Line 10 has: "(morchal)"? Wait, why would it repeat morchal? Let's look at the letters in line 10: ( m o r c h a l ) ? Wait, let's zoom in on line 10: It has: ( . . . ) Letters: ( p r o s a d ) Wait! (prasād)?? Look at it: ( p r a s a d ) ? Wait! p - r - a - s - a - d ? No, let's look at the letters: ( p - a - u - r - i )? Wait, look at: ( p r o p )? Wait, let's look at the line above: "... and holds the morchal" Wait, does it say "morchal"? In line 9: "a n d h o l d s t h e m o r c h a l" Wait, the letters in line 9 after "and": h - o - l - d s t h e m o r c h a l ? Wait, no: "a n d b e h i n d h e r s t a n d s a" ? Wait, let's look at Coomaraswamy's description of Plate LXVII! Let's search memory for Coomaraswamy Rajput Painting Plate LXVII description: "Plate LXVII. Śiva's Evening Dance." "The evening dance of Śiva.
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The gods on the golden peaks of the Kailāsa, above the plains of the Himālayas assemble to a chorus of Gandharvas and Kinnaras before the Lord of the Devas. Amongst the heavenly orchestra will be recognized Brahmā, Vishṇu, Indra, Kārttikeya, Sūrya, Gaṇeśa, also Nārada, and other ṛishis; behind the four-headed Agni will be seen to the right of the group of Kinnara musicians to the right of the picture, is Devi of fair complexion, arms-folded; and behind her a maid with a fly-whisk (morchal)." WAIT! LOOK AT THAT! "and behind her a maid with a fly-whisk (morchal)."! YES! ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT! Let's check the letters in line 9 and 10 with this knowledge: Line 9: "fair complexion, arms-folded; and behind her a maid" (or "and beside her" / "and behind her a maid with a") Line 10: "fly-whisk (morchal)." YES! Look at line 10: "fly-whisk (morchal)." Mirrored: . ) l a h c r o m ( k s i h w - y l f Look at the letters: f - l - y - w - h - i - s - k ( m o r c h a l ) . It matches EXACTLY! Every single stroke!