LĪLAPA WAS A KING in South India. When a wandering yogin came to his court, the king offered his sympathies for the yogin’s peripatetic life. The yogin responded that it was the king who deserved sympathy, burdened by the crown and all the worries that it wrought. The king explained that he was not able to renounce his royal office and lead the homeless life, asking instead if the yogin could offer him a meditation that he could practice on his throne. The yogin taught him how to visualize the buddha Hevajra and his retinue in the ring that he wore on his right hand. The king achieved advanced stages of enlightenment and benefited countless sentient beings.
Dressed in royal robes, Līlapa sits on a sumptuous throne, its back draped in patterned silks of pink and pale blue, its seat covered with carpets in red and green. Behind the throne, peonies and chrysanthemums bloom. The king’s hair is wrapped in a white turban. He wears a jeweled crown and jeweled earrings. He sits in the posture of royal ease, his right leg pendant, wearing a Tibetan-style boot. In his right hand he holds a glowing blue jewel. He holds up his left hand, apparently contemplating the ring (not visible in the painting) on his hand. At his feet is a bowl of fruit flanked by two musicians—a woman playing vīna and a man playing a drum. To Līlapa’s left, a woman, perhaps the queen, offers him a bowl of rice. To the far right, seeming to reach out to dispel the halo of clouds that surround the king, stands the yogin, dressed in shorts and carrying a bundle over his shoulder. At the bottom right, birds perch on rocks and shrubbery.
He is seated on a throne in the aspect of a king. Around him, he has the slight aspect of being surrounded by a minister, a queen, etc.