With Garuḍa soaring before him, the Lord confronted the mighty asura Mura. In a burst of fury, Mura hurled his trident at Garuḍa, roaring thunderously through his five mouths. The sound reverberated across the heavens, filling every direction and the vastness within, as if enveloping the very cosmic egg. The three-pronged weapon sped toward Garuḍa, but Hari—the Supreme Lord—met it with two arrows of triple potency, shattering its force. Simultaneously, he sent a volley of arrows into Mura’s many mouths. Enraged, Mura seized his heavy mace and hurled it at the Lord. As the mace hurtled through the air, Krishna, the elder of mace-wielders, shattered it with his own, breaking it into a thousand fragments. Then, raising his arms, the unconquerable Lord advanced and, with playful ease, severed Mura’s heads with his spinning discus. Headless, Mura’s life departed, and his body plunged into the water like a mountain whose summit has been struck off by Indra’s thunderbolt. Witnessing their father’s fall, Mura’s seven sons—Tāmra, Antarikṣa, Śravaṇa, Vibhāvasu, Vasu, Nabhasvān, and Aruṇa—rose in wrath, placing their commander Pīṭha at the front and arming themselves for battle, determined to avenge their father. They advanced upon the Lord, hurling arrows, swords, maces, spears, javelins, and tridents in a storm of fury. But the Supreme Bhagavān, whose power never wanes, shattered all their weapons with his own arrows. One by one, he sent those chiefs—led by Pīṭha—to the abode of Yama, their heads, limbs, and armor severed by his flying discus and arrows. Thus, the earth-born Naraka was defeated. At this, Durmarṣaṇa, swollen with pride, charged forward, leading elephants born from the ocean. He saw Krishna, radiant with his consort, seated upon Garuḍa like the sun atop a cloud streaked with lightning. Durmarṣaṇa hurled a weapon meant to slay a hundred foes, and all the warriors attacked at once. But Krishna, master of the mace, unleashed a rain of sharp arrows and wondrous steeds upon the earth-born army, severing arms, thighs, heads, and bodies, and slaying their horses and elephants in that moment. O descendant of Kuru, whatever missiles the warriors launched, Hari cut them down with his own sharp arrows and sword-tipped shafts. Meanwhile, Garuḍa, the mighty Suparṇa, struck at the elephants with his wings, beak, and talons, slaying them in droves. Seeing his army routed and tormented by Garuḍa, Naraka entered his city, fighting as he went. He struck at Krishna with his weapon, but its thunderbolt force was repelled; Krishna, unshaken by the blow, remained as unmoved as an elephant garlanded with flowers. In desperation, Naraka seized a spear to slay Acyuta, but before he could release it, Hari, seated upon his elephant, severed Naraka’s head with his razor-edged discus. The head, adorned with gleaming earrings and a beautiful crown, shone as it fell to earth. The sages and lords of the gods cried out, “Alas! Well done!” and praised Mukunda, showering him with garlands. Then Bhūmi, the earth goddess, approached Krishna. She brought radiant earrings of refined gold and jewels, the Vaijayanti garland, a great jewel, and a royal umbrella, offering them all to the son of Prachetas. Reverently, with hands joined and mind full of love, she praised the Lord of the universe. Bhūmi spoke: “Salutations to you, Lord of gods, bearer of conch, discus, and mace; you who take forms according to your devotees’ wishes, O Supreme Soul, I bow to you. Salutations to you, lotus-naveled one, adorned with a garland of lotuses, lotus-eyed one, whose feet are like lotuses. O Bhagavan, Vāsudeva, Viṣṇu, Supreme Person, original seed, knower of all, I bow to you. O creator of the universe, unborn and of infinite power, soul of all, supreme and immanent, I bow to you. “O Lord, desiring creation, you assume fierce forms for dissolution; for the world’s stability, you are sattva. Time, matter, and the Supreme Person—you are all these. Earth, water, fire, air, ether, the senses, gods, mind, the great principle—all that moves and does not move is in you, the non-dual; in you, delusion does not exist. “This son of yours, frightened, has taken refuge at your lotus feet, seeking relief from distress. Therefore, protect him—place your lotus hand, which destroys all sin, upon his head.” Śuka continued: Thus addressed with devotion and humility, the Lord assured Bhūmi and entered the opulent palace of the earth-born Naraka. There, Hari beheld more than sixteen thousand royal maidens, whom the asura had seized from the kingdoms of the earth. Seeing the Lord enter, the bewildered maidens longed in their hearts to have him as their husband, feeling that fate itself had brought him to them. Each, in her own way, prayed, “May this one become my husband, and may the Creator approve it,” giving her heart to Krishna. The Lord sent them to Dvārakā, adorned in spotless garments, along with their attendants, treasures, chariots, horses, and abundant wealth. Keśava also dispatched sixty-four swift, four-tusked, white elephants descended from the line of Airāvata. Then Krishna went to the abode of Indra, the king of the gods, and presented the earrings to Aditi. Honored by Indra and his queen, Indrani, Krishna was urged by his wife Satyabhama to uproot the celestial Pārijāta tree. Placing it on Garuḍa, he defeated the gods—including Indra—and brought the tree to his city. He planted the Pārijāta for Satyabhama, beautifying her garden; bees, greedy for its fragrance, followed it all the way from heaven. Satyabhama bowed at Acyuta’s feet, touching them with the tip of her crown, and begged him to fulfill her desire. Thus, the Lord fulfilled her wish—how deep, indeed, is the darkness of pride among the gods! Then, in a single moment, the unchanging Lord assumed as many forms as there were maidens, marrying them all in their separate mansions. Dwelling with them, surpassing all comparison, he delighted with his consorts, behaving as an ordinary householder would with his wives. Having attained as their husband the Lord of Lakshmi—whose path even Brahmā and the gods do not know—the women joyfully served him with smiles, glances, loving union, playful words, and bashfulness. Hundreds of maidservants also cared for the Lord, meeting him at the door, offering seats, worship, washing his feet, betel, rest, fanning, garlands, arranging his hair, preparing his bed, bathing him, and presenting gifts. Thus ends the fifty-ninth chapter, “The Taking of the Pārijāta Tree and the Slaying of Naraka,” in the tenth book of the Śrīmad Bhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa, scripture for the paramahaṃsas. Once, Bhāīṣmī attended to her husband, the teacher of the world, as he sat happily upon his own bed, gently fanning him together with her companions.