As Keśī, the demon in the form of a wild horse, thundered into Krishna’s cowherd village, his fierce neighing and the stormy clouds whipped by his tail struck terror into the hearts of the villagers. But Krishna, the leader of the cowherds, stood firm and called out to Keśī, his voice resounding like a lion’s roar. Enraged, Keśī confronted Krishna as He performed a sacrifice, charging forward with such fury that it seemed he would swallow the sky itself. With unbearable speed, Keśī struck at the lotus-eyed Krishna with his powerful hooves. But the Lord, who is beyond manifestation, deceived the demon in His wrath. Seizing Keśī with both arms, Krishna whirled him by his legs and threw him aside with contempt, hurling him a hundred bows’ length away—just as Garuda might toss aside a serpent. Keśī, regaining his senses, rose again in a rage and rushed at Hari, his mouth wide open. Krishna, smiling serenely, thrust His arm into the demon’s jaws, as effortlessly as a serpent enters its hole. As Krishna’s arm touched Keśī’s teeth, they shattered and fell away like heated iron breaking apart. His mighty arm, now inside the demon’s body, expanded like a bar of iron, unmoved by Keśī’s resistance. With Krishna’s arm swelling within him, Keśī’s breath was blocked, his limbs flailed, and his body was drenched in sweat. His eyes rolled wildly, and he collapsed to the ground, vomiting blood and lifeless. From the demon’s body—now resembling the fruit of a crab-apple—Krishna withdrew His arm, calm and unboastful, unastonished at His effortless victory. The gods, witnessing this, showered Him with flowers in honor. Then, O King, the foremost of devotees, the divine sage, approached Krishna and spoke a secret, praising the Lord whose actions are free from any taint. “Krishna, Krishna, O unfathomable Self, Lord of yoga, Lord of the universe, O Vāsudeva, abode of all, foremost of the Sātvatas, O Master! You are the Self within all beings, the single light among the wise, hidden in the cave of the heart, the witness, the Great Person, the Lord. “By your own Self, you are your own refuge. In the beginning, by your māyā, you created the guṇas; with them, O Lord of true resolve, you create, maintain, and dissolve this world. Therefore, you have descended for the destruction of earth’s burdens—demons, tormentors, and Rākṣasas—and for the protection of the virtuous. “By good fortune, this demon in the form of a horse has been slain by you in sport, whose neighing terrified even the gods, causing the sleepless ones to abandon heaven. Tomorrow or the day after, O Lord, I shall see you slay Cāṇūra, Muṣṭika, other wrestlers, the elephant, and Kaṃsa. After that, the defeat of Śaṅkha, Yavana, Murā, Naraka, the theft of the Pārijāta tree, and Indra’s defeat. Your marriages to heroic maidens, won by feats of valor and other qualities, and the liberation of King Nṛga from his curse in Dvārakā, O Lord of the world. The obtaining of the Syamantaka jewel along with the wife, the restoration of the dead son to the Brahmin by your own abode. The slaying of Pauṇḍraka, the burning of Kāśī city, the destruction of Dantavakra, and the death of Śiśupāla at the great sacrifice. And whatever other heroic deeds you perform while residing in Dvārakā, O Lord, I shall witness them; they are sung by poets on earth. “Now, I shall witness the destruction of these armies by Him who is Time personified, the annihilator, with Arjuna as His charioteer. We contemplate upon the Lord, dense with pure knowledge, established in His own nature, whose every purpose is fulfilled, whose desires never fail, who by His own splendor is ever free from illusion, and who is the source of the flow of qualities. I bow to You, the Lord, the refuge of all, who by Your own power of illusion have created all distinctions; who, for the sake of play, have assumed a human form; the foremost among the Yadus, Vṛṣṇis, and Sātvatas.” Śuka continued: Thus, after bowing to Krishna, chief of the Yadus, the sage—foremost among devotees—departed, delighted by the vision granted him. Lord Govinda, having slain Keśī in battle, tended the cows with the joyful cowherds, bringing happiness to Vraja. Once, as the cowherds grazed the cattle on the slopes of the mountain, they played a game of hiding, dividing into sides as thieves and protectors. Some played as thieves, some as cowherds, and some as sheep; all played together, fearless and carefree. Vyoma, the son of Maya and master of illusion, disguised himself as a cowherd and, acting as leader of the sheep, led away many who played as thieves. The great demon, having led them away, cast them into a mountain cave, leaving only four or five, and closed the entrance with a rock. Krishna, recognizing Vyoma’s deed, seized the demon as he was leading the cowherds away, just as a lion seizes a wolf. Vyoma then assumed his own form, massive as a great mountain, and tried to escape, but, overpowered, he could not free himself. Acyuta subdued him with His arms, threw him to the ground, and, as the gods watched from the heavens, killed the slayer of cattle. Breaking open the cave’s entrance, Krishna released the cowherds with difficulty, and, praised by the gods and cowherds alike, entered His own Vraja. Thus concludes the thirty-seventh chapter, entitled “The Slaying of Vyomāsura,” in the first half of the tenth book of the Śrīmad Bhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa, the scripture for the paramahaṃsas. Śuka continued: Akrūra, the wise one, spent that night in Mathurā. At dawn, mounting his chariot, he set out for Nanda’s Gokula. As he traveled the road, the blessed Akrūra, his devotion awakened for the Lord with lotus eyes, reflected thus: “What good deed have I performed, what great austerity have I practiced, or what worthy gift have I given, that today I shall behold Keśava? I consider this vision of the Lord of excellent fame to be most rare for me, just as the chanting of Brahman is rare for one born as a śūdra, attached to sense objects. May it not be that even for one as fallen as myself, the vision of Acyuta is denied; for sometimes, even someone being swept away by the river of Time manages to cross over. “Today my misfortune is destroyed and my existence has borne fruit, for I bow to the lotus feet of the Lord, which are the object of meditation for yogis. Indeed, today Kaṁsa has shown me the utmost favor, for I shall see the lotus feet of Hari, who has descended as an incarnation, whose nails’ radiance once dispelled the impenetrable darkness that even the ancients could not cross.