2. RAJEEV KUMAR CALLIGRAPHY
SHISHUPL VADH: Palindrome; (Acrylic on Canvas Dimensions: 36 inches X 64 inches)
The words are too powerfully played by Mahakavi Maagha to describe an episode from Mahabharata wherein Lord Krishna
beheads the defiant King Shishupal with his Sudarshan Chakra.
Mahakavi Maagha described the episode in 20 cantos (chapters). The 19th canto contains this palindrome which is
considered as the most complex and exquisite one ever invented ! Its known to be perfect in every direction…for it reads
the same not just left and right, but also up and down!!It was done in 8th century and finds its place among the six
‘Mahakavyas’ that originated from Indian soil over the ages.
4. RAJEEV KUMAR CALLIGRAPHY
AHAM BRAHMASMI (Acrylic on Canvas, 44 inches X 84 inches)
In the sentence, ‘Aham Brahmasmi,’ or I am Brahman (I am the Ultimate), the ‘I’ is that which is the One Witnessing
Consciousness. This part within ourselves observes our consciousness, which is responsible for all our sensory activities.
Standing at a distance, and shining through every act of thinking, feeling, etc. This part is in complete knowledge and
command and nothing, absolutely nothing is beyond it. This Witness-Consciousness, being the same in all, is universal, and
cannot be distinguished from Brahman, which is the Absolute. Hence the essential ‘I’ should be the same as Brahman (The
Ultimate).
5. RAJEEV KUMAR CALLIGRAPHY
APSARA: (Acrylic Turquoise, Black and Gold on canvas, 84inchesX48inches
The word ‘Apsarsa’ needs no introduction. We all know it. But what all may not now, and something of interest is, that the
word ‘Apsara’ is formed of ‘Ap(water)’ and ‘Sara(way or flow)’. So ‘Apsara’ is the personification of mists and clouds in
form of a beauteous damsel. The first ‘Apsara’, Rambha, appeared at the churning of the ocean but since neither gods nor
asuras would espouse her, Indra took her and her companions to his heaven ‘Svarga’, where they became the common
property of the dwellers and were the female counterparts of ‘Gandharvas’, the divine musicians.
