Romancing Rādhā: Nāgarīdās’ Royal Appropriations of Bhakti Themes

Abstract

This article looks at confluence of rīti and bhakti and at the interface of the personal and the religious, in particular at the influence of the Rādhā-Krishna mythology in construing personal identities in 18th-century North India.

The article presents a case study of Sāvant Siṃh of Kishangarh (1699–1764), who wrote under the pen name Nāgarīdās. He was a prolific author of devotional verse as well as a patron of miniature paintings depicting Krishna and Rādhā. His work shows a tendency that could be termed a ‘royalization’ of Krishna poetry, and is instructive about how religious imagery became meaningful in construing personal lives in medieval India.

Keywords

bhakti 18th-century North India Kishangarh Nāgarīdās Rādhā-Krishna rīti Sāvant Siṃh

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