Sometime the Vigraha catches your eyes and sometimes it is the story about the Vigraha that appeals to you. When lucky, you acquire a Vigraha that is as captivating as the story that goes with it. That is the case here.

The story: A brahmin kept losing his child soon after their birth and sought Arjuna’s help when the tenth child was about to be born. Despite his efforts, Arjuna could not stop the tenth child from vanishing. Seeing Arjuna’s desperation, Krishna offered to help. Both travel to Vishnu Lok to seek Lord Vishnu’s help. There they learn, Lord Vishnu did that intentionally to get Arjuna and Krishna travel to the Vishnu Lok. On return to the earth, Krishna presents the baby to the Brahmin. That scene is captured in the Vigraha.

More details will be found in the photo below. It is from the book Puranic Encyclopedia by Vettam Mani.

Arjuna is probably the only mortal to have gone to Vishnu Lok and returned in his original form.

Now to Vigraha. This is Santana Gopala, Krishna with the child of the brahmin. Here he is standing in Sampada with Chakra in his rear upper hand. The rear left attribute is missing. The front hands are cupped to hold a baby that he is presenting to the brahmin.

The detailing makes this Vigraha a piece of art. Note the fold of the lower garment, orientation of the Chakra, flat topped crown (much like what you see in some of the crawling Krishna) patterns on the crown (back view). tassels on the Sira chakra, beading on the side tassels and the Makara Kundal (the earrings). A closeup photo of the Makara Kundala is below.

This Vigraha would have been a part of a sculptural group depicting the full scene.

The facial features, metal/alloy, theme point to Kerala as the place of origin. There are several temples of Santana Gopala in Kerala.

The Vigraha is about 14 cm tall, and it may be dated to the seventeenth century.