Upon hearing Bāṇa’s boastful words, the Lord, his anger rising, declared, “O fool, when your flag is broken, you will encounter an opponent equal to you in battle, and your pride will be humbled.” Bāṇa, misguided yet delighted by this exchange, returned to his house, eagerly awaiting the command of Giriśa, unaware that he was inviting his own downfall. Bāṇa had a daughter named Ūṣā. One night, Ūṣā dreamed of a union with a handsome youth, Pradyumna’s son—someone she had never seen or heard of before. When she awoke and could not find him, she rose among her friends, agitated and deeply embarrassed, calling out, “Where are you, beloved?” Bāṇa’s minister, Kumbhāṇḍa, had a daughter named Citralekhā, who was Ūṣā’s close friend. Out of curiosity, Citralekhā questioned her among their companions: “Whom are you seeking, O beautiful-browed one? What kind of man fills your thoughts? Princess, I have not yet seen anyone take your hand.” Ūṣā replied, “I saw a man in my dream—dark, lotus-eyed, clad in yellow, with great arms—who captivates the hearts of women. I seek that beloved, who made me drink nectar from his lips, but then, desiring me, vanished somewhere, casting me into an ocean of sorrow.” Citralekhā comforted her, saying, “If your misfortune is destined in the three worlds, I will remove it. Tell me who this enchanting one is, and I will bring him to you.” With those words, Citralekhā began to draw the forms of gods, gandharvas, siddhas, charanas, serpents, demons, vidyadharas, yakshas, and humans as they appeared. Among the humans, she depicted the Vrishnis—Shura, Anakadundubhi, and when she drew Pradyumna, she became embarrassed while sketching Rama and Krishna. When Ūṣā saw Aniruddha’s image, she turned her face downward in modesty, but, smiling, pointed to him and said, “That one, that one.” Understanding her friend’s heart, Citralekhā, a yogini and granddaughter of Krishna, departed through the sky to Dvaraka, protected by Krishna’s grace. Using her yogic powers, she found Aniruddha, Pradyumna’s son, sleeping on a fine bed. She brought him to Shonitapura to show him to Ūṣā. Upon seeing the handsome hero, Ūṣā’s face lit up with joy. She enjoyed Aniruddha’s company in her own home, a place difficult for others to enter. He was honored with excellent garments, garlands, fragrances, incense, lamps, seats, drinks, food, delicacies, and words of service. Hidden in the maiden’s palace, always attended by her growing affection, Aniruddha, whose senses were captivated by Ūṣā, did not notice the passing days. As Ūṣā was thus enjoyed by the Yadu hero, her vows broken, the palace guards observed her, delighted, by subtle signs. They reported to Bāṇa, “We have noticed suspicious behavior in your daughter, a disgrace to the family. Though protected by us in her house, we do not know how the maiden, difficult to approach, has been defiled by a man.” Distressed by the news of his daughter’s disgrace, Bāṇa quickly entered her quarters and saw the Yadu prince. There before him was the son of desire, the most beautiful in the world: dark-complexioned, clad in yellow garments, lotus-eyed, broad-armed, radiant with earrings and curling locks, his face adorned by smiling glances. He was playing dice with Ūṣā, who was eager for him; her body adorned with a garland stained by kumkuma from her breasts, and he held a jasmine garland in his arms. Seeing him seated at her side, Bāṇa was astonished. Suddenly, Aniruddha, seeing Mādhava surrounded by hostile guards and troops, raised his club and stood ready, like Death wielding his staff, intent on killing. Those who rushed to seize him from all sides were struck down by Aniruddha, like a leader of boars slaying dogs. Those being killed fled from the palace, their heads, thighs, and arms broken. Then Bāṇa’s powerful son, using serpent bonds, bound Aniruddha, who was slaying his own troops in anger. Ūṣā, overwhelmed by grief and sorrow, seeing him bound, wept with tear-filled eyes. Thus ends the sixty-second chapter, entitled “The Binding of Aniruddha,” in the tenth book of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, the great Purāṇa, in the section for the supreme renunciates. Śrī Śuka continued: O descendant of Bharata, while Aniruddha and his relatives were not to be seen, four months passed for them, filled with constant grief. Hearing from Nārada the news of Aniruddha’s captivity and the deeds involved, the Vṛṣṇis, for whom Kṛṣṇa is the deity, set out for Śoṇitapura. Pradyumna, Yuyudhāna, Gada, Sāmba, Sāraṇa, Nanda, Upananda, Bhadra, and others, all followers of Rāma and Kṛṣṇa, went forth. Joined by twelve divisions of troops, the foremost of the Sātvatas surrounded Bāṇa’s city on all sides. Seeing his gardens, ramparts, towers, and gateways being destroyed, Bāṇa, seized by anger and with an equal army, came out to fight. For Bāṇa’s sake, the blessed Rudra, together with his son and the Pramathas, mounted the bull Nandi and engaged in battle with Rāma and Kṛṣṇa. There arose a tumultuous, wondrous, and hair-raising battle, O King, between Kṛṣṇa and Śaṅkara, and also between Pradyumna and Guha. Kumbhāṇḍa and Kūpakarṇa fought with Balarāma; Sāmba fought with Bāṇa’s son, and Sātyaki with Bāṇa himself. Brahmā and the other lords of the gods, sages, perfected beings, celestial singers, nymphs, and yakṣas came in their aerial vehicles to witness the battle. Kṛṣṇa drove away the followers of Śaṅkara—spirits, pramathas, guhyakas, ḍākinīs, rākṣasas, and vināyakas—as well as pretas, mātṛs, piśācas, kuṣmāṇḍas, and brahmarākṣasas, with sharp arrows released from his Śārṅga bow. The wielder of Pināka, Śiva, sent various kinds of weapons at the bearer of Śārṅga, but Kṛṣṇa, undisturbed, neutralized them with counter-weapons. He opposed the Brahmāstra with his own Brahmāstra, the Vāyavya with the Pārvatāstra, the Āgneya with the Pārjanya, and the Pāśupata with his own divine weapon.