Hearing of his beloved daughter’s disgrace, Bāṇa was overcome with distress and hastened at once into the maiden’s quarters. There, to his astonishment, he beheld the prince of the Yadus—Aniruddha himself. This son of desire was the most beautiful youth in all the worlds: his complexion was dark as a rain-laden cloud, he was clothed in yellow silk, his eyes were like lotuses, and his broad arms shone with the radiance of golden earrings. His curling locks framed a face lit by gentle, smiling glances. Aniruddha was playing dice with his beloved Uṣā, who was eager for his company. She was adorned with a garland stained by the red kumkuma from her own breasts, and in his arms rested a garland of fresh jasmine. Seated together, they seemed the very picture of love, and Bāṇa was left speechless at the sight. But even as Mādhava—Aniruddha—sat there, he was surrounded by hostile guards and soldiers. Perceiving the threat, Aniruddha seized his club and stood ready to fight, fierce as Death himself wielding his staff, determined to slay his foes. The guards rushed at him from all sides, but Aniruddha struck them down like a mighty boar dispatching a pack of dogs. The palace echoed with the cries of those fleeing for their lives, their heads, thighs, and arms broken in the fray. At last, Bāṇa’s own powerful son stepped forward. With the use of magical serpent bonds, he managed to bind Aniruddha, who in his anger had been laying waste to the palace guards. Seeing her beloved thus captured, Uṣā was overwhelmed by grief and sorrow, her eyes brimming with tears as she wept for him. 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 relatives remained unseen, four months passed, each day heavy with unending sorrow for their family. Then, having heard from the sage Nārada the news of Aniruddha’s captivity and all that had transpired, the Vṛṣṇis—whose chosen deity is Kṛṣṇa—resolved to act. They set out for Śoṇitapura, determined to rescue their kin. Pradyumna, Yuyudhāna, Gada, Sāmba, Sāraṇa, Nanda, Upananda, Bhadra, and other mighty followers of Rāma and Kṛṣṇa all joined the campaign. With twelve full divisions of troops, these foremost of the Sātvatas surrounded Bāṇa’s city on every side. Bāṇa, seeing his gardens, ramparts, towers, and gateways being destroyed by the advancing Yadu army, was seized by wrath. With an equal force, he emerged from his city, ready for battle. For Bāṇa’s sake, the blessed Lord Rudra himself, together with his son and the hosts of Pramathas, mounted the great bull Nandi and entered the field of war against Rāma and Kṛṣṇa. Thus began a tumultuous and wondrous battle, the likes of which raised the hair in awe—a battle between Kṛṣṇa and Śaṅkara, and between Pradyumna and Guha. Kumbhāṇḍa and Kūpakarṇa engaged Balarāma; Sāmba confronted Bāṇa’s son, while Sātyaki faced Bāṇa himself. The spectacle drew the attention of the entire cosmos: Brahmā, the other lords of the gods, sages, perfected beings, celestial singers, nymphs, and yakṣas all gathered in their aerial vehicles to witness the great conflict. Kṛṣṇa, with his mighty Śārṅga bow, drove away the followers of Śaṅkara—spirits, pramathas, guhyakas, ḍākinīs, rākṣasas, and vināyakas—as well as pretas, mātṛs, piśācas, kuṣmāṇḍas, and brahmarākṣasas, all scattered by his sharp arrows. The wielder of Pināka, Lord Śiva, unleashed a variety of divine weapons against the bearer of Śārṅga, but Kṛṣṇa, ever undisturbed, countered each with his own arsenal. He met the Brahmāstra with his Brahmāstra, the Vāyavya with the Pārvatāstra, the Āgneya with the Pārjanya, and the Pāśupata with his own supreme weapon. Then, bewildering Giriśa (Śiva) with the Jṛmbhaṇa weapon, Kṛṣṇa struck down Bāṇa’s army with sword, mace, and arrows. Pradyumna, with a torrent of arrows, assailed Skanda on all sides, causing the peacock-bannered god to bleed and withdraw from battle. Kumbhāṇḍa and Kūpakarṇa were struck down by Balarāma’s plough, and their leaderless troops fled in panic. Seeing his own forces shattered, Bāṇa, burning with rage, abandoned his duel with Sātyaki and charged straight at Kṛṣṇa in the thick of battle. In a frenzy, Bāṇa drew five hundred bows at once, setting two arrows on each, and released them in a storm. Yet Lord Hari cut down all those bows simultaneously, slew Bāṇa’s charioteer, destroyed his chariot and horses, and then sounded his conch in victory. At that moment, Bāṇa’s mother, Koṭarā, desperate to save her son, stood before Kṛṣṇa naked and with disheveled hair. Out of respect, Kṛṣṇa turned his face away, and Bāṇa, now without chariot or bow, retreated into the city. With the hosts of beings driven off, a fever demon with three heads and three feet—burning as if to consume the ten directions—rushed at Kṛṣṇa, the descendant of Dasarha. In response, the divine Nārāyaṇa released his own fever demon, and thus the fevers of Śiva and Viṣṇu clashed in a terrible fight. Overwhelmed by the might of Viṣṇu’s fever, the fever of Śiva cried out in terror. Unable to find safety, he fled to Hṛṣīkeśa (Kṛṣṇa), and, folding his hands in supplication, praised him: “I bow to you, O Lord of infinite power, supreme ruler, soul of all, pure consciousness, cause of creation, maintenance, and dissolution—the tranquil Brahman, the very mark of Brahman. All that is—time, destiny, action, living being, nature, substance, field, breath, self, and transformation—this aggregate, the flow of seed and sprout, is your illusion. I seek refuge in its negation. By your play, assuming many forms, 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; as long as people are bound by hope, they do not worship your feet, and so their suffering continues.” The Blessed Lord replied, “O Triśiras, I am pleased with you. Let your fear from fever be dispelled. Whoever remembers our conversation will not be troubled by you.” Thus addressed, the fever demon of Śiva bowed to Acyuta (Kṛṣṇa) and departed. Meanwhile, Bāṇa, mounting a new chariot, advanced once more to fight Janārdana. Then, O King, the demon Bāṇa, now bearing a thousand arms and wielding many weapons, unleashed a furious storm of arrows at the wielder of the discus. But again and again, the Lord cut down every weapon with his razor-edged discus, severing Bāṇa’s arms as easily as one lops branches from a tree. As Bāṇa’s arms fell away, Lord Bhava (Śiva), ever compassionate to his devotees, approached and spoke to Kṛṣṇa, the bearer of the discus.