This painting is one of a series of illustrations to the Bhagavata Purana, a Sanskrit text whose tenth book deals with the life of the god Krishna. A prophecy told that the demon king Shambara would be killed by Krishna’s son Pradyumna. When Pradyumna was born Shambara seized him and threw him into the sea, where he was swallowed by a fish. However, fishermen caught the fish and presented it to the demon king. When his wife cut it open she found the baby and raised him, enabling the prophecy to be fulfilled.