~1590
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
The Kathasaritsagara (Ocean of the Streams of Stories) is a vast anthology of hundreds of folk stories and fairy tales compiled in Sanskrit by the Kashmiri poet Somadeva in 1063–1081. Derived from earlier literary sources, the embellished tales were told by Somadeva for the diversion of Suryamati (or Suryavati), the queen of King Ananta of Kashmir (r. 1028–1063). The text was translated into Persian by Mustafa Khaliqdad ‘Abbasi for the Mughal Emperor Akbar (r. 1556–1605), but only about a dozen illustrated leaves are extant. The known leaves are cropped and have the Persian text on the reverse.
This folio illustrates the story of the celestial nymph Somaprabha from Chapter 17 of the text. Born on earth because of a curse, Somaprabha is married to the merchant Guhachandra of Pataliputra (modern Patna in Bihar) on the condition that they refrain from sleeping together. Each night, however, Somaprabha mysteriously leaves the house to return at dawn. With the help of a charm given to him by a Brahman, Guhachandra gains the help of Agni, the God of Fire. That night, Agni and Guhachandra take the form of bees and follow Somaprabha. In the forest they discover her listening to heavenly music with another beautiful nymph. Agni advises Guhachandra to dally with a courtesan, which makes Somaprabha jealous and arouses her passion.
