Salutations were offered to the infinite Lord—subtle, immutable, and all-knowing—who encompasses every doctrine and is the very power behind both the spoken and the unspoken. Reverence was paid again and again to Him who is the root of all true knowledge, the sage, the source of the scriptures, the path of both action and renunciation, the very Veda itself. Homage was given to Kṛṣṇa, to Rāma, to the son of Vasudeva, to Pradyumna, to Aniruddha, and to the Lord of the Sātvatas. Praise was offered to Him who is the lamp of the qualities, who veils Himself with them, who is perceived through the play of the guṇas, the seer of all qualities and the inner consciousness. Salutations were made to Hṛṣīkeśa, who sports in the unmanifest and perfects all that is manifest, the sage, the silent ascetic. He was worshipped as the knower of the higher and lower, the overseer of all, both manifest and unmanifest, the seer of all and the cause behind all. To Him, unattached to the qualities yet presiding over the birth, existence, and dissolution of the world—upholding the power of time, awakening the various natures in beings, and engaging in wondrous play with His unfailing glance—salutations were offered. The Lord was addressed as the beloved of the three worlds, to whom all bodies—peaceful, restless, or deluded—are dear, especially the peaceful, for they strive to uphold dharma and protect the virtuous. The plea was made that a ruler must endure even a single offense by his own subject, and forgive, with a tranquil mind, one who acted in ignorance. The wives of the serpent implored the Lord for mercy, asking that their husband, who was their very life and now dying, be restored to them. They offered themselves as His servants, ready to carry out His command, for one who serves the Lord with faith is freed from all fear. Śuka then narrated that, praised thus by the serpent’s wives, the Lord released the unconscious serpent, whose head had been broken, from beneath His feet. Regaining his senses and breath, Kaliya looked upon Hari, and though weak and distressed, spoke to Kṛṣṇa with folded hands. Kaliya confessed their wicked nature, born of darkness and anger, and expressed the difficulty of abandoning such a disposition, which is the delusion common to all beings. He acknowledged that the Lord had fashioned the universe with the distribution of qualities, and that all natures, powers, energies, forms, seeds, and inclinations arise from Him. Among these, the serpents are born with fierce anger, and Kaliya wondered how they could abandon the Lord’s own māyā when they themselves are deluded by it. He surrendered to the Lord, the omniscient cause of all, to do as He deemed fit, whether to show mercy or punishment. 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 and recites it at both twilights will not suffer fear from you. Whoever bathes here, where I have played, offers water to the gods and others, then fasts and worships Me, remembering Me, will be freed from all sins. When you left the island of Ramanaka and took refuge in this lake, you were spared from Suparna’s wrath because you bear My foot-mark.” Śuka continued: Thus addressed by Kṛṣṇa, whose deeds are wondrous, Kaliya was joyfully and respectfully worshipped by his wives. They honored him with divine garments, garlands, precious jewels, ornaments, fragrant ointments, and a great garland of lotuses. Having worshipped the Lord of the universe, pleasing Garuda-bannered Kṛṣṇa, they circumambulated Him and offered respectful salutations. Then, with all his wives, friends, and sons, Kaliya departed for the ocean’s island. At that moment, by the grace of the Lord who played in human form, the Yamuna became free of poison. He was worshipped with incense, perfumes, and other offerings, using the twelve-syllable mantra. Meanwhile, Sūta described that the king came upon a distressing scene: a cow and a bull were being beaten as if helpless, and a low-born man, a disgrace to royalty, stood there holding a club. The bull, white as a lotus stalk, trembled as if urinating in fear, shaking, standing on one leg, and weakened by blows from the Śūdra. The cow, who once gave warm milk, was now distressed, severely struck by the feet of the Śūdra, separated from her calf, her face tearful, emaciated, and longing for grass. The king, mounted on his chariot adorned with golden fittings, with a deep, thunderous voice and his bow raised, questioned them: “Who are you, who in this world, under my protection, unjustly harms the weak? Though you appear as a king, your actions are like those of an actor, not a twice-born. You, who attack the innocent in secret, deserve to be killed, now that Kṛṣṇa has departed far away with the bearer of the Gāṇḍīva bow. Or are you, white as a lotus stalk, walking with diminished feet, a deity in the form of a bull, causing us distress? Never, while the earth was embraced by the mighty arms of the Kaurava kings, did grief afflict living beings here, except through you. “O daughter of Surabhi, do not grieve; let your fear of the low-born vanish. Do not weep, mother; may auspiciousness be yours. I am the punisher of the wicked. In whose kingdom all subjects suffer from the wicked and the good alike, that intoxicated ruler loses his fame, lifespan, fortune, and path. This is the supreme duty of kings: to subdue the afflicted and punish their tormentors. Therefore, I shall kill this most wicked enemy of living beings. “Who has cut off your three legs, O daughter of Surabhi, you four-footed one? May such as you never exist in the realm of kings who follow Kṛṣṇa. Tell me, O bull, may auspiciousness be yours, who is the cause of the disfigurement of the innocent, the defamer of the fame of the sons of Pṛthā. One who inflicts harm on the innocent and spreads fear everywhere, for him only the welfare of the virtuous is ensured when the wicked are subdued.” Thus the story moves from the Lord’s deliverance of the serpent and his family, restoring harmony to the river, to the king’s righteous resolve to protect the innocent and uphold dharma in the world.