Submitted by DominiqueAmendola on
This is a commissioned painting destined to illustrate the Katha Upanishad. The story goes that Nachiketa, a brahmin boy, went to Yamaraja's abode, Death's home, but the god was out, and he waited three days. When Yamaraja returned, he was sorry to see that a Brahmin guest had been waiting so long. He told Nachiketa, "You have waited in my house for three days without hospitality, therefore ask three boons of me". Nachiketa first asked for peace between his father and himself. Next, Nachiketa wished to learn the art of performing fire sacrifice, for his third boon, Nachiketa asked to learn the mystery of what comes after death.
Yama was reluctant to answer this question; he said that this had been a mystery to everyone. He asked Nachiketa to ask for some other boon, and offered many material gains.
But Nachiketa replied that material things will last only till the morrow. He who has encountered Death personally, how can he desire wealth? No other boon would do. Yama was secretly pleased with this disciple, and elaborated on the nature of the true Self, which persists beyond death. The key of self realization is that this Self (within each person) is one and different from the Supreme Lord, the vital force in the universe. Yama's explanation focuses on the following points:
The sound Om is the syllable of the supreme Brahman (Absolute Truth).The Vedanta-sutra says that Brahman is that from which everything emanates. It is that which maintains everything then re-absorbs it all, the ultimate source of all energies. There are many controllers or gods of very specific powers, but the Absolute Truth is one without a second.
The Soul, whose is the same as the omnipresent Brahman, but also different_smaller in quantity but same in quality.
The goal of the wise is to know the nature of the soul and the difference between soul and super soul.
After death, it is the Soul that remains; the soul is immortal.
Mere reading of the scriptures or intellectual learning cannot help realize the soul.
One must discriminate between the soul and the body, which is the seat of desire.
Inability to realize Brahman (Absolute Truth) results in one being enmeshed in the cycle of rebirths. Understanding the Self leads to liberation and freedom from this material world.
Thus having learnt the wisdom of the Brahman from Yama, Nachiketa was freed from the cycle of birth and death.
For this elaborate painting commissioned for a book called the Katha Upanishad, I started with a sketch. actually I worked on many sketches, and below you can see the final sketch:
If you click on the image, you'll get a larger view.
Once I am satisfied with the sketch, I transfer it to the canvas. In this case I had to follow guidelines where Yamaraja is described as having a greenish skin, wearing jewelry like a king, his cloth being red, holding a special scepter and Nachiketa being a brahmin boy wearing simple cloth and a few beads. It is not always easy to have to describe such things in a painting. Yamaraja abode is dark and forbidding. In order tp render this I try to convey this in the background, since he is living in a palace but he is the god of death after all....
If you click on the image, you'll get a larger view.
This is the painting photographed about half way done. You can see that there is not so much contrast, yet. Everything is starting to take shape and the focus is to keep everything balanced.
Lets have a look at the details for the finished artwork:
To purchase the original artwork:
(1)415-367-3763
