When Ūṣā awoke and did not see her beloved, she rose anxiously among her friends, her heart agitated and her face flushed with embarrassment, calling out, “Where are you, beloved?” At that moment, Citralekhā, the daughter of Bāṇa’s minister Kumbhāṇḍa and a close companion of Ūṣā, approached her out of curiosity, surrounded by their other friends. With gentle concern, Citralekhā asked, “Whom are you seeking, O beautiful-browed one? What sort of man fills your thoughts? Princess, I have not seen anyone take your hand in marriage.” Ūṣā, still overwhelmed by her dream, replied, “I saw a man in my dream—dark-skinned, lotus-eyed, dressed in yellow, with powerful arms—who captivates the hearts of women. I long for that beloved who gave me nectar from his lips, but after desiring me, he vanished, leaving me plunged in an ocean of sorrow.” Citralekhā, moved by her friend’s distress, said with assurance, “If your misfortune is destined in all the three worlds, I will remove it. Just tell me who this enchanting one is, and I shall bring him to you.” With these words, Citralekhā began to draw the likenesses of gods, gandharvas, siddhas, charanas, serpents, demons, vidyadharas, yakshas, and humans as they appeared in the world. When she came to the human forms, she depicted the Vrishnis, Shura, Anakadundubhi, and, upon drawing Pradyumna, she felt a touch of shyness as she sketched the forms of Rāma and Krishna. But when Aniruddha’s image was drawn, Ūṣā could not hide her feelings—she looked down in modesty, then smiled and said to Citralekhā, “That one, that one.” Understanding her friend’s heart, Citralekhā, endowed with yogic powers and descended from Krishna himself, soared through the sky to Dvārakā, the city protected by Krishna. There, using her mystical abilities, she found Aniruddha, the son of Pradyumna, asleep on a splendid bed. With her yogic power, she carried him away to Śoṇitapura, her own city, to present him to Ūṣā. When Aniruddha arrived, Ūṣā was filled with joy, and in the privacy of her own chamber—so difficult for outsiders to enter—she delighted in his company. Aniruddha was honored with fine garments, fragrant garlands, perfumes, incense, glowing lamps, comfortable seats, refreshing drinks, delicious food, and gracious words of service. Hidden within the maiden’s palace, always attended by Ūṣā’s growing affection, Aniruddha, so enraptured by her, lost all sense of time. As the days passed, the palace guards began to notice subtle signs and became suspicious of the princess’s behavior. They reported to King Bāṇa, “We have observed suspicious conduct in your daughter, which brings disgrace to the family. Though we have protected her, we do not know how the maiden—so well guarded—has been defiled by a man.” Disturbed by these reports, Bāṇa hurried into his daughter’s quarters and was astonished by what he saw. There sat the Yadu prince, Aniruddha—radiant, dark-complexioned, dressed in yellow, lotus-eyed, broad-armed, adorned with earrings and curling locks, his face bright with smiling glances. He was playing dice with Ūṣā, who was eager for his company, her body decorated with a garland stained by the kumkuma from her breasts, while he held a jasmine garland in his arms. Bāṇa’s astonishment quickly turned to anger as he saw Mādhava (Aniruddha) surrounded by hostile guards and soldiers. Aniruddha, undaunted, seized his club and stood ready to fight, like Death himself wielding his staff. As the guards rushed in from all sides to seize him, Aniruddha struck them down, scattering them like a boar scattering dogs; those who survived fled, their bodies broken. But then Bāṇa’s powerful son, using mystical serpent bonds, managed to bind Aniruddha, even as he was furiously slaying the guards. Ūṣā, overwhelmed by grief, wept with tear-filled eyes as she saw her beloved bound and helpless. 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 remained missing, four months passed for the Vrishnis, filled with unceasing sorrow. At last, Nārada brought news of Aniruddha’s captivity and the events that had transpired. Upon hearing this, the Vrishnis, for whom Krishna was their very deity, prepared to set out for Śoṇitapura. Pradyumna, Yuyudhāna, Gada, Sāmba, Sāraṇa, Nanda, Upananda, Bhadra, and many others, all devoted followers of Rāma and Krishna, set forth, leading 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 was seized by anger. Gathering an equal force, he marched out to do battle. For Bāṇa’s sake, the blessed Rudra (Śiva), together with his son Skanda and the Pramathas, mounted the bull Nandi and engaged Rāma and Krishna in battle. A tumultuous, wondrous, and hair-raising battle erupted between Krishna and Śaṅkara, and between Pradyumna and Guha (Skanda). Kumbhāṇḍa and Kūpakarṇa fought with Balarāma; Sāmba faced Bāṇa’s son; Sātyaki fought with Bāṇa himself. The lords of the gods—Brahmā and others—sages, perfected beings, celestial singers, nymphs, and yakṣas assembled in their aerial chariots to witness this extraordinary conflict. Krishna drove away the hosts of Śiva—spirits, pramathas, guhyakas, ḍākinīs, rākṣasas, and vināyakas—as well as pretas, mātṛs, piśācas, kuṣmāṇḍas, and brahmarākṣasas, with his sharp arrows from the Śārṅga bow. The wielder of Pināka (Śiva) launched many weapons at Krishna, but Krishna, calm and undisturbed, countered each with his own. He met the Brahmāstra with another Brahmāstra, the Vāyavya weapon with the Pārvatāstra, the Āgneya with the Pārjanya, and the Pāśupata with his own divine weapon. Then, having stupefied Giriśa (Śiva) with the Jṛmbhaṇa weapon, Krishna struck down Bāṇa’s army with sword, mace, and arrows. Skanda, assailed on all sides by Pradyumna’s torrents of arrows, bled from his limbs and, as the peacock-bannered one, withdrew from the field. Kumbhāṇḍa and Kūpakarṇa, struck down by Balarāma’s plough, fell, and their leaderless troops fled in all directions.