With deep devotion, the worshipper begins his sacred rites. He meditates and offers wooden sticks, some soaked in pure ghee, into the consecrated fire. He remembers his ancestors and the gods, presenting to them their share of clarified butter before immersing the main oblation in ghee and offering it with reverence. After these offerings, he bows and worships, bestowing gifts upon the divine attendants. Reciting the root mantra, his mind contemplates Brahman, dwelling on the essence of Nārāyaṇa. He completes the ritual by providing water for sipping and distributing the sanctified remnants, preparing them for Viṣvaksena, and then offers fragrant mouth-fresheners like betel leaves. With joyful singing, praise, and dance, he enacts the divine deeds, recounting and listening to the stories of the Lord. For a moment, he becomes wholly absorbed in this sacred remembrance. He then offers hymns and praises—from the lofty verses of the Purāṇas to the simple words of everyday speech—glorifying the Lord and humbly praying, "Be gracious, O Lord," as he prostrates himself. Placing his head at the Lord’s feet and crossing his arms, he implores, "Protect me, O Lord! I have surrendered to you, fearful of the ocean of death and its snares." With reverence, he places the Lord’s prasada upon his head. If the worship is to conclude, he respectfully returns the offering to the light, and from there, to the supreme light. Wherever there is faith—in any place or circumstance—he should worship the Lord, for the Lord is present in all beings and within the very self, as the universal soul. Thus, whether by the path of ritual or yoga, through Vedic or Tantric means, one who worships with sincerity attains from the Lord the perfection he desires. The devotee should establish the Lord’s image and build a sturdy temple, adorning it with delightful flower gardens for worship and festivals. To ensure the ongoing flow of daily and festival rites, he should dedicate fields, shops, towns, and villages, thereby attaining the Lord’s own realm. By consecration, he becomes sovereign over the three worlds with a residence; through worship and related acts, he reaches the world of Brahmā, and by the threefold path, attains equality with the Lord. Through exclusive devotion and yoga, he comes to the Lord alone, for those who worship truly walk the path of devotion. But if anyone takes for themselves what has been offered to the gods or Brahmins for their sustenance, whether given by themselves or others, such a person is condemned to a low state for tens of thousands of years. For the sake of the doer, the essence, and the approver—those who partake in these actions—the greater fruit of those deeds is repeatedly obtained after death. Now, Śuka continues the tale: On the eleventh day, Nanda observed a fast and worshipped Janārdana. On the twelfth, he entered the waters of the Yamunā (Kālindī) to bathe. However, a servant of Varuṇa, an asura, seized Nanda for entering the river at night, crossing the boundary set by the asuras, and brought him before Varuṇa. The cowherds, unable to see Nanda, cried out in distress, "Krishna! Rama!" Hearing their calls, the Blessed Lord Krishna understood that his father had been taken by Varuṇa. The mighty protector of his devotees went to that very spot. When Hrishikesha arrived, Varuṇa, the guardian of the world, received him with great honor, worshipped him splendidly, and celebrated the great festival of beholding the Lord. Varuṇa spoke with deep reverence: "Today my body is pacified; today my purpose is fulfilled. Those devoted to your feet, O Blessed One, have reached the end of the path. Obeisance to you, Supreme Self, Brahman, in whom illusion and the imagined creation of worlds are not even heard of. Out of ignorance, without knowing what should not be done, your father was brought here. Please forgive me. O Krishna, who sees all, be gracious to me. O Govinda, lover of your father, please take your father back." Thus propitiated, Krishna, Lord of lords, took Nanda and returned, bringing joy to his relatives. Nanda, having witnessed the extraordinary glory of Varuṇa and his reverence for Krishna, spoke to his kinsmen, astonished. The cowherds, their minds eager, wondered, "Will this Lord show us our own subtle destination?" Krishna, knowing the hearts of his people, out of compassion considered their wish. For in this world, people bewildered by ignorance, desire, and action wander among higher and lower paths, not knowing their own true destination. Thinking thus, the Blessed Lord Hari, full of compassion, revealed to the cowherds his own world, which is beyond all darkness. That realm is truth, knowledge, infinite Brahman—the eternal radiance which sages behold when all qualities have ceased and their minds are absorbed. Krishna led them to the lake of Brahman, where they immersed themselves and were lifted out by him. There, they beheld the world of Brahman, the same realm that Akrura had once seen. Nanda and the others, filled with supreme bliss and wonder, saw Krishna being praised there by sacred hymns. Knowledge, discrimination, scripture, austerity, direct perception, tradition, and inference—all these, from their beginning to their end, exist only through the Lord; in the middle, too, he alone remains. Just as gold pervades all golden objects, being present before and after their making, so too, amidst the various names and forms, Krishna is the one essence. This knowledge, dear one, is threefold—rooted in the three guṇas: as cause, effect, and agent. In their union and separation, that alone which is the fourth state is the truth. That which is not before, nor after, nor in the middle, is but a name; whatever the supreme establishes as real, that alone truly is. That which, though not existing, yet appears—this is the transformation born of rajas. Brahman, being self-luminous, shines forth as the wondrous variety of Brahman, senses, objects, mind, and their modifications. By clear reasoning that discerns Brahman, and by skill in refuting contrary views, one should cut off self-doubt and become tranquil, satisfied in one’s own bliss, indifferent to all objects of desire. Know that the self is not the body made of earth, nor the senses, nor the gods, demons, wind, water, or fire; mind is only food, intellect is sattva, ego is space, and earth is the balance of elements. Thus ends the twenty-eighth chapter of the first half of the tenth book in the great Purāṇa, Śrīmad Bhāgavata, the scripture of the supreme, swan-like sages.