The Lord, whose face shone like a blooming lotus and whose arms and eyes were long and graceful, captivated the hearts of His wives with loving glances and sweet words. Though these women possessed their own enchanting charms, they found themselves unable to control their minds before His majestic presence. With smiles and gestures that revealed His innermost feelings, and with skillful, love-filled words sent forth by the movement of His brows, Krishna enchanted His sixteen thousand wives. Even when they tried to disturb His senses with their feminine arts, armed with Cupid’s arrows, they could not sway Him. Having attained the Lord of Lakshmi as their husband—a path even Brahma and the other gods cannot fathom—these women joyfully served Krishna with unceasing affection. They eagerly awaited His smile, His glance, His touch, and His embrace. Hundreds of maidservants attended to the Lord, performing duties such as welcoming Him, offering seats, washing His feet, providing betel, arranging for His rest, fanning Him, adorning Him with fragrant garlands, arranging His hair, preparing His bed, bathing Him, and making other offerings. Among Krishna’s wives, eight queens were foremost, each bearing ten sons. Beginning with Pradyumna, their sons were Charudeṣṇa, Sudeṣṇa, Charudeha the mighty, Suchāru, Charugupta, Bhadracāru, Charucandra, Vichāru, Charu, and Pradyumna himself. These sons, born to Rukmini, were not inferior to their illustrious father. Satyabhama’s ten sons were Bhānu, Subhānu, Svarbhānu, Prabhānu, Bhānumān, Chandra Bhānu, Bṛhadbhānu, Ratibhānu, Śrībhānu, and Pratibhānu. Jāmbavatī’s sons, headed by Sāmba, were Sāmba, Sumitra, Purujit, Shatajita, Sahasrajit, Vijaya, Citraketu, Vasumān, Draviḍa, and Kratu, all esteemed by their father. Nāgnajit’s sons were Vīra Chandra, Ashvasena, Citragu, Vegavān, Vṛṣa, Āma, Shaṅku, Vasu, Śrīmān, and Kuntir. Kālindī’s sons were Śruta, Kavi, Vṛṣa, Vīra, Subāhu, Bhadra, Ekala, Śānti, Darśa, and Pūrṇamāsa, with Somaka as the youngest. Mādrī’s sons were Praghoṣa, Gātravān, Siṃha, Bala, Prabala, Ūrdhvaga, Mahāśakti, Saha, Oja, and Aparājita. Mitravinda’s sons were Vṛka, Harṣa, Anila, Gṛdhra, Vardhana, Annāda, Mahāśa, Pāvana, Vahni, and Kṣudhi. Bhadrā’s sons were Saṅgrāmajit, Bṛhatsena, Śūra, Praharaṇa, Arijit, Jaya, Subhadra, Vāmāyu, and Satyaka. Rohiṇī’s sons included Dīptimān, Tāmra, Taptā, and others. From Pradyumna came Aniruddha, born to Rukmavatī, the mighty daughter of Rukmi, in the city of Bhojakaṭa. Their sons and grandsons numbered in the tens of millions, O King, and the mothers of Krishna’s children were sixteen thousand in all. King Parikshit then asked, “How did Rukmi, though insulted by Krishna and seeking to kill him, give his daughter in marriage to Krishna’s son in battle? Tell me, O wise one, the story of the wedding between these rivals.” Śuka replied, “O King, yogis perceive clearly what is past, future, present, beyond the senses, distant, or hidden. At the svayamvara, Cupid himself, endowed with many limbs, was chosen by her. Defeating the assembled kings, he carried her away alone in his chariot during the battle. Despite remembering his enmity and having been insulted by Krishna, Rukmi gave his daughter to the son of his sister, thus pleasing his sister. The powerful son of Kritavarma married Rukmini’s daughter, a maiden of wide eyes and renowned beauty. Rukmi gave his granddaughter, Rocana, to Aniruddha, Krishna’s grandson, despite their ongoing feud, wishing to please his sister; though he knew the union was improper, he was bound by ties of affection. At that auspicious event, Rukmini, Rama (Balarama), Krishna, Samba, Pradyumna, and others went to the city of Bhojakat. When the wedding was completed, the kings led by the ruler of Kalinga, proud and arrogant, challenged Rukmi to defeat Balarama in dice. “This one does not know dice, O King, yet even so, the loss is great,” they said. Balarama was summoned, and Rukmi played dice with him. Rama staked a hundred, then a thousand, then ten thousand coins. Rukmi defeated him, and the king of Kalinga laughed at Balarama, showing his teeth loudly, which Halayudha could not tolerate. Then Rukmi staked a hundred thousand coins, and Balarama won that wager, but Rukmi, relying on deceit, declared, “I have won.” Filled with wrath, glorious Balarama, like the ocean at its full, his eyes reddened by birth and anger, staked ten million coins. Balarama also won that wager by fair means, but Rukmi resorted to trickery, saying, “I have won; let the witnesses declare it.” Then a voice from the sky declared, “The wager was won by Balarama alone; Rukmi speaks falsely, claiming victory by words, not by righteousness.” Ignoring that heavenly voice, the Vidarbha king, prompted by wicked rulers and by fate, mocked Sankarshana and spoke derisively: “You are not skilled in dice, you cowherds who wander the forests; kings play dice and shoot arrows, not men like you.” Thus insulted by the kings and mocked by Rukmi, Balarama, enraged, raised his club and struck him in the assembly of men. Seizing the king of Kalinga swiftly by his tenth step, Balarama, furious, knocked out his teeth—the same king who had laughed with exposed teeth. Other kings, their arms, thighs, and heads broken and covered in blood, fled in fear, battered by Balarama’s club. When Rukmi, his brother-in-law, was slain, Krishna, fearing the breaking of affection between Rukmini and Balarama, neither praised nor condemned the act. Then, placing Aniruddha and his bride on a splendid chariot, Rama and the Dasharhas departed from Bhojakat for Kushasthali, their purposes fulfilled under the shelter of Madhusudana. King Parikshit then asked, “The foremost of the Yadus married Bāṇa’s daughter Ūṣā. There was a terrible battle between Hari and Śaṅkara at that time. O great yogi, you are worthy to recount all of this in detail.