With deep affection, Krishna spoke to his father, Nanda, urging him to return to Vraja. “Please, father,” he said, “go back to our home. We will come to see you and our beloved relatives, who are pained by their love for us, once we have ensured the happiness of our friends here.” With these gentle words, Krishna and Balarama consoled Nanda and all the people of Vraja, honoring them with gifts—fine clothing, ornaments, vessels, and other treasures—showing them the utmost respect. Overwhelmed with love, Nanda embraced the two brothers, his eyes brimming with tears. Then, together with the cowherds, he departed for Vraja, carrying the warmth of their affection in his heart. Meanwhile, Vasudeva, the son of Sura, arranged for the sacred thread ceremony for Krishna and Balarama. Priests and learned Brahmins performed the rites according to tradition. Vasudeva gave generous gifts: cows adorned with golden necklaces, well-decorated and draped in fine cloth, each with a calf, honoring the priests with similar adornments. He remembered the cows he had mentally dedicated at the birth of Krishna and Rama—those which Kamsa had unlawfully taken—and now, reclaiming them, he fulfilled his vow. Thus initiated, the two noble sons became twice-born and undertook the vow of study under Garga and other family preceptors. Though Krishna and Balarama are the very source of all knowledge, all-knowing and Lords of the universe, they concealed their flawless wisdom, behaving as ordinary humans. Desiring to reside in a teacher’s house, they approached Sandipani of Kashi, who lived in Avanti. With self-control and reverence, they properly approached their teacher and served him blamelessly, learning from him with devotion, as if he were a god. Sandipani, the foremost of the twice-born, was pleased by their pure and devoted conduct. He instructed them in all the Vedas, with their branches and Upanishads, as their teacher. He also taught them the secret Dhanurveda, the principles of righteousness and justice, the science of reasoning, and the sixfold science of royal governance. Krishna and Balarama, initiators of all knowledge, comprehended everything at once, merely from a single utterance. In just sixty-four days and nights, they mastered all those arts. Then, as their teacher’s fee, they asked Sandipani what he desired. Observing their wondrous and superhuman intelligence, Sandipani, after consulting with his wife, requested as their fee the return of his son, who had died at Prabhasa in the great ocean. Agreeing, Krishna and Balarama, mighty in valor, ascended their chariot and reached Prabhasa. They approached the shore and sat for a moment; the ocean, recognizing them, brought offerings of respect. Krishna spoke: “O Ocean, quickly give the son who was swallowed here by you, seized by a great wave.” The Ocean replied: “O Lord, I did not take him; the great demon Panchajana, who dwells in the waters in the form of a conch, seized him, O Krishna.” Hearing this, Krishna swiftly entered the water, slew the demon, but did not find the boy within its belly. Taking the conch that had arisen from the demon’s body, he returned to his chariot and then went to the city called Samyamani, beloved of Yama. Arriving there, Janardana, together with his weapons, sounded the conch. Hearing its loud blast, Yama, the restrainer of beings, took notice. He offered them great worship, enhanced by devotion, bowed to Krishna, the abode of all beings’ hearts, and said: “O Vishnu, who acts in human form, what shall we do for you both?” The Blessed Lord replied: “The son of our teacher, brought here by the bonds of his own deeds, O great king, bring him forth, commanded by my order.” Yama assented and brought forth the teacher’s son to Krishna and Balarama. After giving him to their teacher, they again asked Sandipani to choose a boon. The revered teacher said, “My dear ones, you have fully repaid your teacher’s fee; what desire could remain for a teacher such as yours? Return home, O heroes, may your fame be pure; may the Vedas you have learned remain with you here and hereafter.” Thus permitted by their teacher, Krishna and Balarama returned to their city in their chariot, swift as the wind and sounding like thunderclouds. All the people rejoiced to see Rama and Janardana, as those who have recovered lost wealth after many days of deprivation. The sixty-four arts they mastered, as stated in the Śaiva Tantras, include: singing; playing musical instruments; dancing; acting; painting; making decorative cuttings; rice and flower arrangements; making flower beds; tooth, clothing, and body adornment; arranging jeweled floors; preparing beds; playing water instruments; splashing water; various artistic combinations; weaving garlands; arranging head ornaments; preparing costumes; shaping ear ornaments; blending fragrances; arranging jewelry; conjuring tricks; wrestling techniques; sleight of hand; making various vegetable and flour foods; preparing drinks and flavored liquors; needlework; string games; riddles; reciting chains of verses; tongue-twisters; reading books; seeing plays and stories; completing poetic puzzles; making various mats and canes; spinning and weaving; carpentry; architecture; testing silver and gems; metallurgy; knowledge of gem colors; knowledge of mines; knowledge of tree life; rules for ram, cock, and quail fights; training parrots and mynas to speak; cleaning; skill in hairdressing; reciting secret codes; mimicking foreign languages; knowledge of regional dialects; interpreting omens from flower garlands; making mechanical devices; making magical diagrams; reciting together; composing poetry in the mind; various creative activities; tricks and games; knowledge of dictionaries, meters, and prosody; methods of concealing clothes; special dice games; magnet games; children’s toys; knowledge of Vainayikī, Vaijayikī, and Vaitālikī arts. Among the Vrishnis, Uddhava was foremost—a wise counselor, beloved friend of Krishna, and direct disciple of Brihaspati, excelling in intelligence. To him, the Lord, remover of distress for those who seek refuge, once spoke—taking Uddhava’s hand in his own, for he was most dear and devoted. “Go, O gentle Uddhava, to Vraja,” Krishna said. “Bring joy to my parents, and with my messages, relieve the agony of the gopis caused by separation from me. Those women, their minds fixed on me, their very life devoted to me, have given up bodily comforts for my sake; they have come to me, their beloved, their very self, in their hearts. Those who have abandoned worldly duties for me—I uphold them. For me, their dearest beloved, though far away, the women of Gokula are bewildered, constantly remembering me, overwhelmed by the pain and longing of separation. My cowherd maidens, whose hearts are united with me, somehow sustain their lives with great difficulty, holding on by the hope of my return and the messages I send.” Thus addressed, Uddhava, honoring his master’s command, mounted his chariot and departed for Nanda’s cowherd village. Arriving at Nanda’s Vraja as the sun was setting, the illustrious Uddhava entered, his chariot concealed by the dust raised from the hooves of the returning cattle. The air resounded with the bellowing of strong bulls vying for the company of cows, and with the cries of calves running to their mothers, heavy with milk. The place was adorned here and there by white calves leaping about, filled with the sounds of milking and the melodies of flutes. There, gopis beautifully adorned, along with the cowherd men, sang the auspicious deeds of Balarama and Krishna, making the village splendid.