Krishna – 64 forms of art

Have grown up hearing stories about how Krishna was adept at 64 arts.. wanted to know what they were and how it can apply to today’s scenario!

As a child, I always wanted to compile this list and learn as many as possible. Krishna seems to have learned these during his days at school (Gurukul). Am so happy to have got the opportunity to put this together and see how many I have had the privilege to learn… so, here comes the list..!

  1. Art of Singing
  2. Art of Dancing
  3. Art of playing musical instruments
  4. Art of painting
  5. Theater art (acting)
  6. Art of painting face with one color and body with another (face painting, tattoos etc)
  7. Art of making preparations for cleaning teeth (very interesting 🙂 even advertisements these days speak about the science of it.. not the art)
  8. Art of jewelry making
  9. Art of playing music with water
  10. Art of flower decorations
  11. Art of setting the bed (yes… this is truly an art.. :))
  12. Art of preparing naivedya (offerings to God) with rice
  13. Art of Garland and wreath making
  14. Art of decorating the ear with jewelry
  15. Art of Aromatics
  16. Art of cooking delicious food (this is more of a life skill these days :))
  17. Art of preparing drinks
  18. Art of making and solving riddles
  19. Art of speaking multiple languages
  20. Art of woodwork
  21. Art of using, mixing and testing minerals
  22. Art of using, mixing (alloys) and testing metals
  23. Art of weaving clothes
  24. Art of reciting books
  25. Practicing medicine or medical treatments using herbs
  26. Art of healing or cleansing a person with perfumes
  27. Art of styling hair
  28. Art of communicating using sign language
  29. Art and use of amulets (use includes science as well..!)
  30. Art of prediction
  31. Art of conversation
  32. Art of composing a verse
  33. Art of designing a literary work or medical remedy
  34. Art of understanding dialects (not just languages, but dialects as well..!)
  35. Art of mechanics (not the science.. that is interesting..!)
  36. Art of Building shrines
  37. Art of Clothing or dressing up
  38. Art of Gambling
  39. Art of Enforcing discipline
  40. Art of gaining victory
  41. Art of lexicography
  42. Art of understanding bird language
  43. Art of animal fights (why… maybe because horses and elephants were used during war?)
  44. Art of making weaponry
  45. Art of needlework
  46. Art of tricking your opponent
  47. Art of setting the crown
  48. Art of wine making
  49. Art of planting, grafting and preservation of plants
  50. Art of preparation of salts
  51. Art of fighting with hands in a duel (without using weaponry)
  52. Art of war (formulating and implementing war strategies by listening to musical instruments from far)
  53. Art of praying to Gods using various seating positions and mudras
  54. Art of putting down a fire, actions caused by water and air
  55. Art of swimming
  56. Art of making glass objects
  57. Art of extracting oil from seeds
  58. Art of maintaining, entertaining and nourishing children
  59. Art of identifying and working with precious gems
  60. Art of relieving one from pains caused by wounds
  61. Art of mimicry
  62. Art of Debating and winning at it
  63. Art of climbing trees
  64. Art of punishing offenders

Surprisingly, earning money or financial well being does not seem to be an art 🙂 When I look at this list, many of these are life skills and vocations (businesses, domains, industries etc if I use the current terminology). If anyone is out of job, or in distress, learning one of these skills and using it or teaching it can help them earn a living! However, the way the teachers taught these in olden days – financial well being was taken care of naturally by providing students opportunities to learn these skills! If you are good at even ONE of these, you can figure out a way to survive. If you have mastered all of these.. well, you are ready to distribute your knowledge – as you would have gained not just the knowledge – but wisdom as well in the process 🙂

Now, if you have mastered one of these and have computer skills as well.. imagine the possibilities of innovation 🙂

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