the trees assumed the shape of the two sons of Kubera, the god of riches, who being cursed by the sage Narada to assume the shape of trees had been waiting long to be thus restored by the

Lord Krishna to their original form. The first part of this incident is represented in fig. 24.

In South India pictures of Krishna with a pot of butter under his left arm and eating out of a ball of it placed in the palm of his right hand are not uncommon. On either side of him are represented shepherd girls of Brindavana- 1 This form of Krishna, though very often meditated upon and sung about even in nursery rhymes, is rarely worshipped as the chief figure in temples a famous exception to this being Udipi in the South Canara district, where a big temple, richly endowed, is maintained for the worship of the god Bala- Krishna. 2 In the Madras Museum are two metallic images of dancing Krishna, one of which holds in its right hand a ball of butter 3 (fig. 25). A peacock's feather stuck into the tuft of hair knotted overhead is, along with the other golden jewellery peculiar to children, a special feature of Krishna as a boy. Gold and silver images of this form of Krishna in miniature are among the set of idols worshipped daily in an orthodox Brahmana's house. Vaishnavism in its various forms prevailing throughout India praises the child form of Krishna in the sweetest of strains with an overflow of devotion peculiar to that creed alone.

Another story of the boy Krishna is represented in his dance on the head of a serpent named Kaliya (the black). Kaliya was hiding in a pond in the Yamuna river and making the whole neighbourhood poisonous to all living beings. One day the cattle tended by Krishna and his companions strayed into this region and were thereby poisoned. Krishna then plunged into the pond and holding the viper by the tail

1 The name given to this figure in the Silparatna is Santana-Gopala, already referred to. Krishna under this designation is described as a young playful baby decorated with the jewels of children, holding fresh butter in his hand and surrounded by (70/z-women. He wears also a necklace with a pair of tiger's claws decorating it. A variety of this same Krishna is sometimes represented to be riding on a chariot and to have four arms in two of which are seen the Vaishnava symbols sankha and chakra.

2 Krishnaraya, the well known Yijayanagara king of the sixteenth century A.D., is stated to have installed in the Krishnasvamin temple near Hampi, an image of Bala-Krishna which he had brought as a trophy from Udayagiri (Nellore district) and to have given many ornaments and villages to it.

3 The Brahnnya-Silpa refers to the dance of Krishna called Navamla-nritta " the butter-dance " in which the god bends his legs and dances stretching out one of his arms.