With Krishna’s arm swelling within him, the demon Keśī found his breath blocked and his limbs flailing in agony. His body drenched in sweat, his eyes rolling wildly, he collapsed to the ground, vomiting blood and utterly lifeless. From the body of Keśī, which resembled the fruit of a crab-apple, the mighty-armed Lord Krishna withdrew his arm. He did so without astonishment or boastfulness, despite having slain his enemy effortlessly. The gods honored him, showering flowers from above. O King, at that moment, the foremost of devotees—the divine sage—approached Krishna, whose actions are ever pure, and spoke a secret to him. The sage addressed Krishna: “Krishna, Krishna! O unfathomable Self, Lord of yoga, Lord of the universe, Vāsudeva, abode of all, foremost of the Sātvatas, O Master! You are the Self of 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 qualities of nature; 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, the chief of the Yadus, the foremost sage among devotees, having received permission, departed joyfully, delighted by the vision he had been granted. Lord Govinda, having slain Keśin in battle, tended the cows with the joyful cowherds, bringing happiness to Vraja. Once, as the cowherds were grazing the cattle on the slopes of the mountain, they played a game of hiding, taking 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. Acting as the leader of the sheep, he led away many who played as thieves. The great demon, having led them away, cast them into a mountain cave, and, leaving only four or five, closed the entrance with a rock. Recognizing Vyoma’s deed, Krishna, the giver of refuge to the virtuous, seized the demon as he was leading the cowherds away, just as a lion seizes a wolf. Assuming his own formidable form, massive as a great mountain, the powerful demon 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. Praised by the gods and cowherds alike, he entered his own Vraja. Thus ends 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 spoke: 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. Those feet, worshipped by Brahmā, Śiva, and other gods, by the goddess Śrī, by sages, and by the Sātvatas, which wander in the forest with His companions tending the cows, and are marked with the saffron of the gopīs’ breasts. Surely I shall behold Mukunda’s face, with its beautiful cheeks and nose, its smiling, glancing, reddish lotus eyes, covered with curling locks, around which deer move in circumambulation. Perhaps today my eyes will directly attain the fruit of beholding Viṣṇu, who has assumed human form by His own will to relieve the earth’s burden, who is the very abode of beauty. He, whom I am about to see, though free from ego and duality, dispels the darkness of ignorance by His own radiance; by His māyā He is perceived in the homes of beings through their life, senses, and intellect. His words, mixed with auspicious qualities, deeds, and birth, destroy all inauspiciousness, enliven, purify, and sanctify the world; those who are indifferent to them are considered as beautiful corpses.” So, with longing and reverence, Akrūra journeyed toward Gokula, his heart overflowing with anticipation to behold the Lord.