Vasudeva carries the Infant Krishna across the Yamuna River

This charmingly naive picture illustrates the scene from the Bhagavata Purana that occurs immediately after Krishna's birth. Because Kamsa, the wicked king of Mathura, threatened Krishna's life, the baby's father, Vasudeva, secretly took him to the countryside as soon as he was born. Here, rain falls from a dark night like strings of pearls. The swollen Jumna river threatens, but the multiheaded serpent Vasuki rises up to shield Vasudeva and his infant son from the downpour. The father struggles to cross the swirling torrent, shown here running diagonally to the left, while a roaring tiger offers protection on the opposite bank. After his foster parents, Yasoda and Nanda, raise Krishna, he returns to Mathura and slays King Kamsa.