As the sacred ceremony reached its height, a wondrous assembly descended from the heavens. Tumburu, Nārada, and their companions—the Gandharvas, Vidyādharas, Siddhas, and Cāraṇas—gathered, their celestial voices resounding in songs that glorified Hari, the Lord whose fame purifies the worlds of all impurity. As their music filled the air, the divine women danced with unrestrained joy, their movements radiant and graceful. The leaders of the divine hosts praised the Lord, showering him with miraculous rains of fragrant flowers. In that moment, supreme delight swept through the three worlds. Even the cows, moved by the auspiciousness, gave forth streams of sweet milk. Rivers and trees responded in kind, flowing with honey, while grains and healing herbs sprang forth without cultivation, and the mountains revealed their hidden precious gems. O descendant of Kuru, when Kṛṣṇa was anointed, a remarkable peace settled over all beings. Even those of cruel disposition found their hearts free from enmity. Thus, after the anointing of Govinda—the beloved Lord of the cows and cowherds—Indra, with the other gods and celestial beings, took leave, permitted by the Lord himself, and returned to their heavenly realms. Turning to the duties of worship, the instructions were given: one should honor Durgā, Vināyaka, Vyāsa, Viṣvaksena, the teachers, and the gods, each facing their proper direction, with offerings such as sprinkling and other rites. If possible, the devotee should daily bathe the deity with sandalwood paste, camphor, kuṅkuma, aguru, and fragrant waters, all accompanied by sacred mantras. The rites are to be performed with the recitation of the Svarṇagharman hymn, the Mahāpuruṣa-vidyā, the Pauruṣa Sūkta, and the Sāman hymns. With love and devotion, the Lord should be adorned with garments, sacred threads, ornaments, garlands of leaves, and fragrant ointments. Water for washing the feet, water for sipping, fragrant substances, flowers, unbroken rice, incense, lamps, and other offerings are to be presented with faith. The devotee should prepare sweet rice with jaggery, clarified butter, fried cakes, rice cakes, and sweets, along with curd, soup, and other foods as available. Daily and on festival days, one should offer oiling, massaging, mirrors, tooth-cleaning, bathing, food, drink, singing, dancing, and similar services. In a consecrated fire-pit, prepared with girdle, fuel, and altar, the sacred fire should be kindled and gathered as prescribed. After spreading kuśa grass and sprinkling, the offerings are placed and purified with water; then, approaching the fire, the devotee offers them to the Lord. During worship, the devotee meditates on the Lord, resplendent as molten gold, bearing conch, discus, mace, and lotus, shining with four arms, peaceful, and clad in garments the color of lotus filaments. The Lord appears radiant with crown, bracelets, waistband, and splendid armlets, adorned with the mark of Śrīvatsa on his chest, the Kaustubha gem, and a garland of forest flowers. With meditation and worship, the devotee places wooden offerings and those soaked in clarified butter into the fire. After offering portions to the ancestors and the gods, the main oblation is presented, immersed in ghee. Having worshipped and bowed, gifts are offered to the attendants, and, reciting the root mantra, the devotee contemplates Brahman, remembering the essence of Nārāyaṇa. After giving water for sipping and the remnants, the offerings are prepared for Viṣvaksena, and fragrant mouth-fresheners such as betel are presented. Singing, praising, dancing, and enacting the Lord’s deeds, the devotee narrates and listens to his stories, becoming absorbed, even if only for a moment. With hymns from the Vedas, Purāṇas, and even common speech, the devotee extols the Lord, prays for his grace, and prostrates himself. Placing his head at the Lord’s feet and crossing his arms, he implores, “Protect me, O Lord! I have surrendered, frightened by the ocean of death and its snares.” With reverence, the devotee places the Lord’s prasāda upon his head; if the worship is concluded, he respectfully returns the offering to the light, and again to the supreme light. Wherever there is faith in worship, the devotee should worship the Lord there, for he is present in all beings and within the self, as the universal soul. Thus, by the paths of ritual and yoga—both Vedic and Tantric—a person worshipping attains from the Lord the desired perfection in both ways. Establishing the Lord’s image, the devotee should build a firm temple, surrounded by delightful flower gardens for worship and festivals. For the ongoing flow of worship and related rites, on great festivals and daily, he should dedicate fields, shops, towns, and villages, thereby attaining the Lord’s realm. By consecration, he becomes sovereign over the three worlds with a residence; through worship and similar acts, he attains Brahma’s world, and by threefold practice, equality with the Lord himself. Through exclusive devotion and yoga, he attains the Lord alone, and thus, whoever worships him attains the path of devotion. However, whoever takes for himself what has been given to the gods or Brahmins for their maintenance becomes a dung-eater for tens of thousands of years. For the sake of the doer, the essence, and the approver, those who share in the actions, after death, repeatedly obtain the greater fruit of those deeds. Meanwhile, Śuka continued his narration: On the eleventh day, fasting, Nanda worshipped Janārdana; on the twelfth, he entered the waters of the Kālindī to bathe. But a servant of Varuṇa, an asura, seized him, for he had entered the water at night, disregarding the asuric boundary, and brought him before Varuṇa. The cowherds, unable to see Nanda, cried out in distress, “Krishna! Rama!” Hearing their anguished calls, the Blessed Lord, who grants fearlessness to his own, understood that his father had been taken by Varuṇa, and, O King, the mighty one went at once to that place. When Hrishikesha arrived, Varuṇa, the guardian of the world, welcomed him with great honor, worshipped him splendidly, and joyfully proclaimed the festival of beholding the Lord. Varuṇa said, “Today my body is pacified; today, O Lord, my purpose is fulfilled. Those devoted to your feet, O Blessed One, have reached the end of the path. Obeisance to you, Supreme Lord, Supreme Self, Brahman, where illusion and the imagined creation of worlds are not heard of. Unknowingly, by my own foolishness and ignorance, your father was brought here; may you forgive this. You, who see all, O Krishna, are worthy to show your favor to me as well. O Govinda, lover of your father, let your father be taken back.” Thus propitiated, Krishna, Lord of lords, took his father and returned, bringing joy and relief to his beloved relatives.