The Insouciant Devotee
2023 Watercolour on paper / artist book
A meditation on doubt, devotion, and the absurdity of trying to test faith through everyday carelessness.
The work follows a devotee who decides to test whether Vitthal–Rukmini are actually watching over him. It draws on the Bhagavad Gita’s “Sanshayatma Vinashyati” while turning the question around: how much can you doubt God before God stops answering?
The story of an overthinking, so-called devotee who is not satisfied and decides to test Vitthal–Rukmini.
Insouciance is being casual, relaxed, or even careless, watching cartoons instead of paying your bills.
But Vitthal Rakhumai witnesses everything you do.
Together, they make sure you breathe, digest your food, your heart beats, your blood circulates, you sleep, you dream, read, and comprehend what’s written here, all while keeping you alive and awake.
So what is there to worry about?
This one person, however, is not satisfied.
He is a devotee, or so he says. He believes in Vitthal. He trusts Rukmini. And yet he keeps thinking.
What if they don’t?
What if devotion is only a story we tell ourselves?
What if God needs to be tested?
And so, instead of simply believing, he decides to conduct an experiment.
He will stop doing what he is supposed to do.
He will leave things unattended.
He will be deliberately careless.
He will see whether Vitthal–Rukmini really are watching.
nāyaṁ loko ’sti na paro na sukhaṁ saṁśayātmanaḥ
“Ignorant and faithless people who doubt the revealed scriptures do not attain God consciousness; they fall down.”
But perhaps the devotee has misunderstood the verse.
Perhaps his doubt is not the opposite of faith.
Perhaps the real question is …. How much can you doubt God before God stops answering?
The Insouciant Devotee
Watercolour paintings 8.5" x 12", 450 gsm rough rag paperby Chaitanya Modak.