Checking For Himself The Sweetness of His Own Toe, Wondering What Makes People Drink the Water Touched by It (The Lord and His Maya)

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Markandeyaji had no desire whatsoever, but when the Lord Nara-Narayana appeared before him and told him to ask for a boon since He was pleased with Markandeyaji's stuti. Markandeyaji prayed, "Sir, I have obtained your vision, and desire nothing else. However, I want to see what your Maya is. Please grace me with a glimpse of your Maya."

The Lord was quite surprised to hear Markandeyaji's request. However, he said, "All right, you will have a glimpse."

One evening, Markandeyaji sat on the bank of the river Subhadraa, to do the evening Sandhya Vandan worship. It seemed to him that the sea was rising on all sides, coming towards him, flooding everything in its path. The water reached him and swept him away, but he did not die. He saw the whole world submerged in water. Sometimes, some creatures of the sea would swallow him and sometimes some other creatures would swallow him, but they would throw him out again. He wandered thus for several millions of year. Ultimately, he saw a tiny baby sleeping on a cupped leaf of a banyan (peepal) tree.

It is stated by the Lord in the Vedas: "Oh, Human! This village of yours is balanced on the peepal tree and your lifespan is just alike a drop of water on a leaf, which may fall any minute."

Now, Markandeya saw that the baby was sucking his own big toe. The Mahatmas have said, about this, that the baby was the Lord Balgopal himself. He was sucking his big toe, to check what sweetness it has, which makes people drink the water touched by it.

When Markandeyaji went close to this baby, he was sucked in with the air, when the baby took a breath. Inside, he saw hundreds of thousand of universes. So mush so, that he even had a glimpse of his own Ashram on the banks of the Subhadra River. He saw himself sitting in meditation. Then he emerged again, when the baby exhaled. When he went to bow down to the baby, he realized that there was no baby, and no other scene. He was back at the same spot, on the same day, at the same time, as when he started his Sandhya Vandan.

Markandeyaji thought, "Oh, what was all that which I saw?" Then he understood that it was the play of Maya, which he had seen. Maya hid the Paramatma, hid the truth, and showed - like a magic show - that, which did not exist. Markandeyaji was wonderstruck. He realized that one can never understand God, but only sing His glories. He thus became engrossed in the prayers and meditation of the Lord again.

Krishna is the most widely worshipped of all the avatars of Vishnu and often the subject of an intensely emotional cult.

The sun-like baby Krishna is lying on a lotus leaf floating on water. Enormous details, mostly imaginative, though as much realistic, tend to depict him as a tender, lovable, most extraordinary child. Curls cup his chubby face - a face that holds the most impish smile, naughty eyes that contain a glint within. The body of baby Krishna is adorned lovingly with jewellery; his hair tied up neatly in a knot tied by a string of beads with a peacock feather tucked in. With one hand occupied with the flute he uses the other to direct his toe to his mouth which parts mischievously. He must have been initially wrapped in a yellow-orange cloth, which he has kicked away.

In the background, towards the left stands an aged, gentle rishi with flowing beard and hair; tulsi beads form his necklace, bracelets and armlets. He stands with folded hands paying salutations to Krishna. He recognizes the divine lord even in his form as baby Krishna. In his expression he has genteel and wisdom that arises out of dedication and devotion to God. He stands against a backdrop of the ocean.

This description by Renu Rana.

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Oil painting technique – India centric

Oil painting is the most interesting technique in art. Unlike other paintings or art forms, oil painting is a process in which colored pigments are painted on the canvas with a drying oil medium as a binder. This medium helps colors blend beautifully to create layers and also makes them appear rich and dense. Several varieties of oil are used in this painting such as sunflower oil, linseed oil, etc., and depending on the quality of the oil, a particular consistency of the paint is developed. With the use of an oil medium, the painting gets a natural sheen on the surface which appears extremely attractive. India is famous for its old tradition of making oil paintings. This art form was brought by Europeans in the 18th century and is now practiced by almost all well-known artists. Nirmal, a small tribal town in the state of Telangana is the center of traditional oil paintings in India where the local people practice it with dedication. Most Indian artists still use the traditional technique of oil painting.

Canvas of the required size is prepared

The artists use either a wood panel or canvas made from linen or cotton. Sometimes the canvas is stretched onto the wooden frame to form a solid base, or cardboard may be used. The canvas is coated with a layer of white paint or chalk mixed with animal glue. This mixture is then smoothed and dried to form a uniform, textured surface. The wooden panel is more expensive and heavier but its solidity is an advantage in making detailed paintings with ease.

Sketch is drawn on the canvas

Now the artist starts to draw the subject of the painting on the canvas using the actual charcoal or a charcoal pencil. Sometimes, he may sketch with thinned paint as well.

Oil paint is applied using paint brushes or palette knives

Now that the rough sketch is prepared, the artist is now ready to paint. Oil paint, a special paint that contains particles of pigments suspended in a drying oil (usually linseed oil), is again mixed with oil to make it thinner for applying it on the canvas. Proper consistency of the paint is maintained to avoid its breakage. The most important rule for the application of oil paint is “Fat over lean” in which the first layer of paint is thin and later, thicker layers are applied. This means that each additional layer of paint contains more oil. This results in getting a stable paint film. Traditionally, paint was applied using paint brushes but now the artists also use palette knives to create crisp strokes. To paint using this technique, the edge of the palette knife is used to create textured strokes that appear different from that of a paintbrush. Sometimes, oil paints are blended simply using fingers for getting the desired gradation.

Smaller oil paintings, with very fine detail, are relatively easier to paint than larger ones. The most attractive feature of these paintings is the natural shiny appearance that is obtained on the surface because of the use of oil paint. The blending of colors looks extremely realistic and this is the reason why oil paintings are loved by everyone throughout the world.