As the Yadu hero enjoyed the company of the maiden Uṣā, her vows broken, the subtle signs of her delight did not go unnoticed by the vigilant guards stationed to protect her. Observing her behavior, they grew suspicious and hastened to report to King Bāṇa. “O lord,” they said, “we have noticed something amiss with your daughter, a shame upon the family. Though we have guarded her within her own chambers, we cannot fathom how this maiden, so difficult to approach, has been defiled by a man.” Hearing these troubling words, Bāṇa was overcome with distress at the news of his daughter's disgrace. He rushed at once into her private quarters, where his eyes fell upon the Yadu prince, Aniruddha. There before him sat the son of desire, the most beautiful in all the world—dark-skinned, clad in radiant yellow garments, his lotus-like eyes shining, arms broad, adorned with earrings and curling locks, his face graced by smiling glances. Aniruddha was playing dice with his beloved Uṣā, who sat beside him, eager for his presence. Her body was adorned with a garland stained by the vermilion from her own breasts, and he held in his arms a fragrant wreath of jasmine. Bāṇa was astonished at the sight of this princely youth seated so intimately with his daughter. Suddenly, Aniruddha saw himself surrounded by hostile guards and troops. Instantly, he seized his club and stood ready, fierce as Death himself, determined to fight. Those who rushed upon him from all sides were struck down by his hand, falling as dogs before a mighty boar. Many fled the palace, their heads, thighs, and arms broken by his blows. But then Bāṇa’s powerful son, skilled in the use of serpent bonds, cast his spell and bound Aniruddha, who had been slaying the guards in his anger. Uṣā, overwhelmed with grief and sorrow at the sight of her beloved bound, wept with eyes full of tears. Thus ends the sixty-second chapter, “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 kin were lost to sight, four long months passed, filled with unending sorrow for their families. At last, the sage Nārada brought news of Aniruddha’s captivity and the events that had transpired. Hearing this, the Vṛṣṇis, for whom Kṛṣṇa is the supreme deity, resolved to set out for Śoṇitapura to rescue him. Pradyumna, Yuyudhāna, Gada, Sāmba, Sāraṇa, Nanda, Upananda, Bhadra, and others—all devoted followers of Rāma and Kṛṣṇa—gathered together. With twelve divisions of soldiers, these foremost of the Sātvatas surrounded Bāṇa’s city on every side. Seeing his gardens, ramparts, towers, and gateways being destroyed by the advancing army, Bāṇa’s anger blazed forth. He assembled an army equal to the invaders and came out to meet them in battle. For Bāṇa’s sake, the blessed Lord Rudra himself, along with his son and the fierce Pramathas, mounted the great bull Nandi and entered the fray against Rāma and Kṛṣṇa. There arose a tumultuous and wondrous battle, hair-raising to behold, between Kṛṣṇa and Śaṅkara, and also between Pradyumna and Guha. Kumbhāṇḍa and Kūpakarṇa engaged Balarāma in combat, while Sāmba fought Bāṇa’s son, and Sātyaki faced Bāṇa himself. The lords of the gods—Brahmā and others—as well as sages, perfected beings, celestial singers, nymphs, and yakṣas, all gathered in their aerial chariots to witness the mighty battle. Kṛṣṇa, wielding his Śārṅga bow, drove away the followers of Śaṅkara: spirits, pramathas, guhyakas, ḍākinīs, rākṣasas, vināyakas, pretas, mātṛs, piśācas, kuṣmāṇḍas, and brahmarākṣasas, scattering them with sharp arrows. Śiva, the wielder of the Pināka bow, unleashed a host of weapons upon Kṛṣṇa, but Kṛṣṇa, undisturbed, neutralized each with his own counter-weapons. He opposed the Brahmāstra with his own Brahmāstra, the wind weapon with the mountain weapon, the fire weapon with the rain weapon, and the Pāśupata with his own divine missile. Bewildering Giriśa (Śiva) with the Jṛmbhaṇa weapon, Kṛṣṇa 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, retreated from the battle. Kumbhāṇḍa and Kūpakarṇa, struck down by Balarāma’s plough, fell dead, and their leaderless troops fled in all directions. Seeing his forces shattered, Bāṇa, burning with rage, abandoned his fight with Sātyaki and charged directly at Kṛṣṇa in the midst of battle. With wild fury, Bāṇa drew his bows, setting two arrows on each of five hundred shafts at once. But Lord Hari, with effortless might, cut down all those bows at once, slew Bāṇa’s charioteer, destroyed his chariot and horses, and then sounded his conch shell. At that moment, Bāṇa’s mother Koṭarā, naked and with disheveled hair, stood before Kṛṣṇa to shield her son’s life. Out of respect, Kṛṣṇa turned his face aside and did not look upon the woman, and Bāṇa, now without chariot or bow, withdrew into the city. With the hosts of beings scattered, a terrible fever demon with three heads and three feet rushed at Kṛṣṇa, burning the ten directions with his heat. Seeing this, the divine Nārāyaṇa released his own fever demon, and the fevers of Śiva and Viṣṇu clashed in battle. Overwhelmed by the power of Viṣṇu’s fever, the fever of Śiva cried out in terror. Unable to find safety and frightened, he sought refuge in Hṛṣīkeśa, praising him with folded hands: “I bow to you, O Lord of infinite power, supreme ruler, pure consciousness, the soul of all, cause of creation, maintenance, and dissolution, that tranquil Brahman, the mark of Brahman. Time, destiny, action, the living being, nature, substance, field, breath, self, and transformation—all this, the flow of seed and sprout, is your illusion. I seek refuge in its negation. By your play, you support the gods, the virtuous, and the bridges of the worlds; you destroy the violent; your birth relieves the earth’s burden. I am scorched by your unbearable, fierce fever; so long as people are bound by hope, they do not worship your feet, and thus their suffering continues.” The Blessed Lord replied, “O Triśiras, I am pleased with you; let your fear of fever be dispelled. Whoever remembers our conversation will not suffer from your presence.” Thus addressed, the fever demon of Śiva bowed to Acyuta and departed. Meanwhile, Bāṇa, having mounted his chariot once more, advanced to confront Janārdana in battle.