O blessed one, in you reside all noble qualities: knowledge and detachment, lordliness and heroism, brilliance and strength, memory and independence, skill and beauty, courage and gentleness. You are endowed with boldness and humility, good conduct and endurance, vigor and prosperity, depth and steadiness, faith, fame, honor, and the absence of pride. These and many other exalted virtues dwell within you, never diminishing, and those who seek greatness strive to attain them. Yet now, I grieve for the world, deprived of the presence of Śrīnivāsa—the vessel of all virtues—and stricken by the sinful influence of Kali. I lament for myself, for you, O noblest of rulers, for the gods, ancestors, sages, the virtuous, and for all the social orders and stages of life. Even Brahmā and the other gods, yearning for a mere sidelong glance from the Lord, performed severe austerities and surrendered themselves to Him; yet that very goddess Śrī, forsaking her own abode in the lotus forest, lovingly worships the dust of His feet, which bear auspicious marks. I, too, was adorned by the glorious footprints of the Lord—marked with the lotus, thunderbolt, goad, banner, and other sacred symbols. But though I attained such splendor, I did not find lasting favor with Him; at the end, He cast me aside, and the worlds, too, rejected me. He, by His own power, removed the unbearable burden of the earth—the hundred armies of demonic kings—and, even when your position was unstable and weakened, established you in your own strength, delighting the Yadu dynasty by bearing their charming forms. Who could endure separation from the Supreme Person, whose loving glances, radiant smiles, and sweet words steal even the steadfastness of honey-bees—when the very dust of His feet, marked with auspicious signs, sends a thrill through my being? As the Earth and Dharma thus spoke, at that very moment, King Parīkṣit, the royal sage, arrived at the eastern bank of the Sarasvatī river. With reverence, I offer obeisance to You, O Lord, the Supreme Person, the great soul, the abode and source of all beings, the transcendent Supreme Self. Salutations to You, the treasure-house of knowledge and wisdom, the Absolute of infinite power, beyond all qualities, unchanging, and not of this world. I bow to Time, the source of time, the witness of its divisions, the universe itself, the overseer, the creator, and the cause of all. Salutations to the Self of elements, senses, life-breath, mind, intellect, and inner disposition, who is experienced inwardly, yet concealed by identification with the three qualities. I bow to the infinite, the subtle, the immutable, the all-knowing, who accommodates all doctrines and is the power behind both the spoken and the unspoken. Salutations to the root of all valid knowledge, the sage, the origin of the scriptures, the path of action and renunciation, the very Veda itself—again and again, I bow. Salutations to Kṛṣṇa, to Rāma, to the son of Vasudeva, to Pradyumna, to Aniruddha, and to the Lord of the Sātvatas. I bow to the lamp of the qualities, to the one who veils Himself with the qualities, who is perceived through the functions of the qualities, the seer of the qualities, and the inner consciousness. Salutations to Him who sports in the unmanifest, who perfects all that is manifest—Hṛṣīkeśa, the sage, the silent ascetic. I bow to You, who knows the course of the higher and lower, who oversees all, who is both the unmanifest and the manifest, the seer of all and its cause. O Lord, though unattached to the qualities, You preside over the birth, existence, and dissolution of this world, upholding the power of time, awakening the various natures in beings, and, by Your unfailing glance, engage in wondrous play. Your very forms in the three worlds—some peaceful, some restless, some born of delusion—are dear to you, O scion of Indra. The peaceful ones are especially beloved, for now, out of a desire to uphold dharma, you strive to protect and preserve the virtuous. A ruler should bear with a single offense committed by his own subject; you ought to forgive, with a tranquil mind, one who acted in ignorance toward you. Grant us your mercy, O Lord, for the serpent is abandoning his life; let the husband, who is the very life of us women—wretched and deserving of compassion—be restored to us. Command what your maidservants must do, so we may carry out your order; for one who performs it with faith is freed from all fear. Śuka said: Thus praised by the wives of the serpent, the Lord released the unconscious Kaliya, whose head had been crushed beneath His feet. Regaining his senses and breath, Kaliya slowly looked upon Hari. Struggling to breathe, weak and distressed, he folded his hands and spoke to Krishna: “We are wicked by birth, enveloped in darkness and old anger, O Lord. This nature is hard to abandon, for it is the false grasping that afflicts all beings. By you, O Creator, this universe has been fashioned, with its distribution of qualities; its various natures, powers, energies, forms, seeds, and inclinations arise from you. Among them, O Lord, we serpents are born with fierce anger; how can we abandon your māyā, which is so hard to relinquish, when we ourselves are deluded by it? For you are the cause of all, omniscient Lord of the universe. Whether you grant mercy or punishment, do as you deem fit for us.” Śuka continued: Hearing these words, the Lord, acting as a human, spoke: “You must not remain here, O serpent; go to the ocean without delay. Leave this river to be enjoyed by cows, men, and your own kin, children, and wives. Whoever among mortals remembers this instruction I have given you, and recites it at both twilights, will not suffer fear from you. Whoever bathes here, where I played, and offers water to the gods and others, then fasts and worships me, remembering me, will be freed from all sins. Having left the island of Ramanaka and taken refuge in this lake, you were not devoured by Suparna out of fear, for you bear my foot-mark.” The sage said: Thus addressed by Krishna, whose deeds are wondrous, Kaliya was worshipped joyfully and respectfully by his wives. They honored him with divine garments, garlands, precious jewels and ornaments, fragrant ointments, and a great garland of lotuses. Having worshipped the Lord of the universe—Krishna, whose banner bears Garuda—they circumambulated and offered him respectful salutations. Then, with all his wives, friends, and sons, Kaliya departed for the island in the ocean. In that moment, by the grace of the Lord who played in human form, the Yamuna became free of poison. And, with devotion, he worshipped with incense, perfumes, and other offerings, using the sacred twelve-syllable mantra.